BOSTON — Republican Mitt Romney, who last week struggled with his responses to a major foreign-policy crisis in the Middle East, will now turn his focus back to the economy with a new offensive aimed at recharging a campaign that even some allies believe he is losing.
The Obama campaign, also sobered by the violent deaths of U.S. diplomats in Libya, seems willing to join Romney in a debate about the economy instead.
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Sean Sullivan
THE FIX | Friday's decision blocking Wisconsin law could impact the political sphere in a few key respects.
Chris Cillizza
A series of head-scratching campaign moves had people talking about everything but President Obama and his handling of the economy.
Sean Sullivan
The House minority leader says she is confident her party will win back the majority in the lower chamber.
The GOP nominee, in speeches and television advertisements this week, will roll out more details about his plans to help the middle class by creating jobs, cutting the deficit and developing more domestic energy resources, advisers said. The specifics are designed to give voters a clearer sense of what Romney would do as president.
Both candidates were pushed off message in the wake of the Middle East turmoil that roiled the campaign last week. Obama was forced to defend his administration’s handling of the crisis as Romney sharply criticized it. But Romney did not appear to make up any ground politically, and some Republican allies criticized him for too quickly politicizing the moment.
Romney is determined to reshape a congealing narrative that he has fallen behind Obama and will spend the next 2[SUP]1[/SUP]/ [SUB]2[/SUB] weeks before the first presidential debate articulating more concrete details of his five-step economic plan, according to campaign advisers.
The strategy shift indicates the Romney campaign is heeding the advice of senior Republicans, who for weeks have publicly urged the Romney operation to combine its indictments of Obama’s record with a stronger rationale for a Romney presidency.
“I think people are waiting to get a little more information, and the key for us is to make sure that voters know why voting for Romney will result in a change and an improved economy,” Edward Gillespie, a senior adviser to Romney, said in an interview. “We’re going to keep pounding away on a future-oriented campaign about why the next four years will be better under Mitt Romney than under President Obama.”
The Romney campaign has prepared a series of ads, to air in battleground states, arguing that Romney’s plan would create 12 million jobs. Aides said the ads will highlight his trade policies to crack down on China, his plans to help small businesses grow and his specific plan to cut the spiraling federal deficit.
The national debt will be a key focus early this week. Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, will highlight the debt burden that mothers and grandmothers will pass onto their children and grandchildren — an issue advisers think can help Romney close the gap with Obama among women voters. The campaign also plans to stage a ticking electronic debt clock at campaign rallies, an aide said.
Romney touched on the debt in a podcast released to supporters over the weekend, saying that Obama was “passively allowing us to go over a fiscal cliff.” Romney’s plan calls for capping federal spending at below 20 percent of the economy — cuts he says he would achieve in part by consolidating federal agencies and transferring some government programs to the states.
The Obama campaign, also sobered by the violent deaths of U.S. diplomats in Libya, seems willing to join Romney in a debate about the economy instead.
Graphic
Where are they going? Follow President Obama, Mitt Romney, their running mates and spouses on the campaign trail
More from PostPolitics
Sean Sullivan THE FIX | Friday's decision blocking Wisconsin law could impact the political sphere in a few key respects.
Chris Cillizza A series of head-scratching campaign moves had people talking about everything but President Obama and his handling of the economy.
Sean Sullivan The House minority leader says she is confident her party will win back the majority in the lower chamber.
The GOP nominee, in speeches and television advertisements this week, will roll out more details about his plans to help the middle class by creating jobs, cutting the deficit and developing more domestic energy resources, advisers said. The specifics are designed to give voters a clearer sense of what Romney would do as president.
Both candidates were pushed off message in the wake of the Middle East turmoil that roiled the campaign last week. Obama was forced to defend his administration’s handling of the crisis as Romney sharply criticized it. But Romney did not appear to make up any ground politically, and some Republican allies criticized him for too quickly politicizing the moment.
Romney is determined to reshape a congealing narrative that he has fallen behind Obama and will spend the next 2[SUP]1[/SUP]/ [SUB]2[/SUB] weeks before the first presidential debate articulating more concrete details of his five-step economic plan, according to campaign advisers.
The strategy shift indicates the Romney campaign is heeding the advice of senior Republicans, who for weeks have publicly urged the Romney operation to combine its indictments of Obama’s record with a stronger rationale for a Romney presidency.
“I think people are waiting to get a little more information, and the key for us is to make sure that voters know why voting for Romney will result in a change and an improved economy,” Edward Gillespie, a senior adviser to Romney, said in an interview. “We’re going to keep pounding away on a future-oriented campaign about why the next four years will be better under Mitt Romney than under President Obama.”
The Romney campaign has prepared a series of ads, to air in battleground states, arguing that Romney’s plan would create 12 million jobs. Aides said the ads will highlight his trade policies to crack down on China, his plans to help small businesses grow and his specific plan to cut the spiraling federal deficit.
The national debt will be a key focus early this week. Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, will highlight the debt burden that mothers and grandmothers will pass onto their children and grandchildren — an issue advisers think can help Romney close the gap with Obama among women voters. The campaign also plans to stage a ticking electronic debt clock at campaign rallies, an aide said.
Romney touched on the debt in a podcast released to supporters over the weekend, saying that Obama was “passively allowing us to go over a fiscal cliff.” Romney’s plan calls for capping federal spending at below 20 percent of the economy — cuts he says he would achieve in part by consolidating federal agencies and transferring some government programs to the states.