Romney’s New Challenge: Facing Off Against Obama

Although the Republican Candidate Has His Strengths, His Personality Is Not Convincing

With the ultraconservative Rick Santorum on the bench, the coast is clear for Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee who will face Obama in November. Although this nomination is an accomplishment, it is not the end of his problems. Romney needs to get the ultraconservatives within the deeply divided Republican Party to rally to his cause. However, this is a group that Romney has never managed to enthuse, as he is leading a campaign in the center. In addition, President Obama traditionally has played with the independent vote past the primaries. The situation poses an aerobatic challenge for Romney, a candidate whom the voters are still wondering about. Harold Meyerson, a columnist in Wednesday’s Washington Post, raised a question about how Mitt Romney is going to “pivot” to the center after leading the most conservative campaign in the history of the Grand Old Party since Barry Goldwater’s in 1964. Some evangelical leaders recall that when the moderate John McCain refocused his campaign in 2008, he lost against Barack Obama. Richard Viguerie, the influential ideologue of the conservative right and a diehard supporter of Rick Santorum, warns the former Massachusetts governor against a shift to the center. “To date, Mitt Romney has spent about $100 million to drive the conservative candidates from the field…,” he writes. “However, he has spent little effort making the case for his own candidacy to grassroots movement conservatives. The first great challenge facing Republicans is whether or not Mitt Romney can heal the wounds created by his negative campaigning.”

Particularly Brutal

The moderate Republican has already taken on the task. He stated that his former rival would continue to play an “important role within the Republican Party,” while his entourage, trying to solicit official support, approached Rick Santorum. But the primary has been particularly brutal. Mitt Romney has won the elections in several states due to a barrage of phenomenal negative ads. While there is little doubt that Rick Santorum will eventually support Mitt Romney, like Hillary Clinton did with Barack Obama in 2008, it will be difficult to forget his comments. Santorum labeled Romney “the worst Republican” of the country and predicted he would lose against Barack Obama.

The question is perhaps not so much whether the evangelicals and ultraconservatives will support Mitt Romney. They obviously will never vote for Barack Obama. The issue is rather whether or not they will mobilize in sufficient numbers in November. On one side, the disappointment from Barack Obama will provide some compensation. But on the other hand, judging from the polls, Mitt Romney has a lot of work to do in order to create enthusiasm. According to an ABC/Washington Post poll, President Obama is considered “more friendly” by 64 percent of Americans, as opposed to Mitt Romney, with only 26 percent. In the U.S., the personality of the presidential candidate is not that important to voters. If the election were held today, Barack Obama would beat Mitt Romney by seven points. On substantive issues, the Mormon candidate is hardly better off. Even in regard to common issues that interest voters, Barack Obama is still considered to be more competent. We see this in the case involving women’s rights (53 percent for Obama against 34 percent for Romney). Mitt Romney shot himself in the foot by questioning women’s rights to contraception and abortion.

Voters also possess much more confidence in Barack Obama’s foreign policy (53 percent to 36 percent) and protection of the middle class (49 percent to 39 percent). This is a theme chosen by the president to defeat the millionaire Republican’s attempts to present himself off the record as the people’s candidate. Instead, Mitt Romney beats Obama in the areas of management of the economy (47 percent to 43 percent), the weak point of the president and the priority of American voters. Mitt Romney intends to make the highlight of the election a referendum on Obama’s record with reference to the American economy. Romney is working hard everyday to describe the economy as “disastrous.” Moreover, 64 percent of Americans still believe that the country is on “the wrong track.” If the price of gasoline continues to rise and employment figures do not improve even after several positive months — the figures were disappointing in March — this will serve as an advantage of Mitt Romney. There are still seven months before the presidential election, an eternity in American politics, but the election will be marked by the Supreme Court’s high-risk decision in June regarding reforming Barack Obama’s health care law. But in the Republican camp, some ultraconservatives are already preparing for Mitt Romney’s defeat and are relying heavily on congressional elections and the 2016 presidential election. After two Democratic presidencies, they would be more likely to, say, elect a “true conservative.”