Republican Mitt Romney is pivoting to a more aggressive position in his presidential race in an effort to restore confidence in his campaign and change a growing perception that the race is swinging against him.
With just 44 days before the election and trailing President Barack Obama in crucial swing states, the Republican nominee plans to intensify the pace of his public campaign and the tone of his rhetoric.
“He’s got to get off the heels and got to get out and charge forward,” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said today on “Fox News Sunday.” “I want to see fire in the belly.”
Romney is fighting to refocus his campaign after one of the most difficult weeks of his candidacy, dominated by the publication of a secretly recorded May video in which he derided almost half of all Americans as government-dependent “victims” and a flood of criticism from within his own party.
Romney and his campaign have dismissed concerns that they are mismanaging the race, pointing to national tracking polls that show the contest tightening as Obama’s post-convention bounce fades.
“It doesn’t need a turnaround,” Romney said in an excerpts from CBS’s “60 Minutes” released in advance of the broadcast of his interview tonight. “We’ve got a campaign which is tied with an incumbent president to the United States.”
[h=2]Party Concerns[/h]Still, Romney has struggled to center his message and quell party concerns of potential damage to contests down the Republican ticket, costing congressional seats in competitive Senate and House races.
The Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, said today that it wasn’t the best week for Romney’s campaign and moving forward the party must spend more time describing to voters its plan for the country.
“We need to lay out the vision and lay out the specifics as we are doing, but more clearly and more consistently on a daily basis,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
After complaints that Romney was spending too much time fundraising, the candidate is planning to hold more public events in swing states, changing his weekend plans to add a rally in Colorado later today. After a visit to New York, he’ll embark upon a three-day bus tour in Ohio with running-mate Paul Ryan and hold events in Virginia.
[h=2]Stepping Up Pace[/h]Since his convention ended a month ago, Romney has held three public rallies a week, according to a review of his campaign schedule. Over that same period, he’s done at least 17 fundraisers, wooing donors at mansions in Long Island and over jumbo crab legs in Las Vegas.
Over the past week, Romney has attempted to move beyond his videotaped remarks with a new line of attack, charging Obama with failing to improve the economy because he never mastered Washington.
Today, his campaign released a television ad citing a new book by Washington Post (WPO) reporter Bob Woodward that claims that during the 2009 negotiations over the economic stimulus package, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi muted Obama on a speakerphone.
“If he cannot lead his own party, how can he lead America?” the ad says.
Pelosi has denied the incident occurred. “Clearly, this ad is an act of desperation,” she said in a statement released today.
He’s also sought to transform the controversy over the video into a broader debate about the role of government in the economy under Obama.
[h=2]‘Not Statistics’[/h]“These are not statistics. These are people,” Romney told 1,500 donors at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills last night. “The president’s policies -- these big-government, big-tax monolithic policies -- are not working.”
At the same time, Romney is spending hours preparing for the October debates against Obama, match-ups that his staff deems critical for his campaign. Earlier this month, he holed up in a secluded area of Vermont for three days of sessions with advisers. Since then, he’s squeezed in time in hotel rooms on the campaign trail.
A number of top campaign aides, including campaign manager Matt Rhoades, and Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who’s playing the role of Obama in practice sessions, flew to Los Angeles to spend several hours rehearsing with Romney at the JW Marriott this morning.
[h=2]No Complacency[/h]Obama advisers, too, see the debates as pivotal in the campaign. They’re urging supporters not to get complacent, warning that the race will still be tight.
“Structurally, the way the politics of our country are set up, we knew it was going to be a close race,” said Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod on ABC’s “Face the Nation.” “We’re prepared for a close race.”
Still, there are signs that the contest is tilting in their favor. State surveys by CBS News/New York Times (NYT)/Quinnipiac University gave Obama the lead in Virginia and Wisconsin, home state of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Representative Paul Ryan. Obama and Romney were in a statistical tie in Colorado in polls conducted from Sept. 11 until Sept. 17.
For more than a month, Romney has been pulled off his core economic themes by bipartisan criticism of his comments after the death of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and inflammatory remarks about rape made by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin.
This isn’t the first time his campaign has promised to reboot. Last week, senior adviser Ed Gillespie promised the campaign would shift its message to give “more specifics” about their plans, after reports of internal discord among staff.
Yet even some of his strongest supporters acknowledge that the past few weeks have been particularly disheartening.
“I know you are probably feeling a bit worried, frustrated, even angry,” said Tom Tellefsen, Romney’s California finance director, told donors at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills last night. “Polls are not elections. The voters have not yet spoken.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Los Angeles at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at [email protected]
With just 44 days before the election and trailing President Barack Obama in crucial swing states, the Republican nominee plans to intensify the pace of his public campaign and the tone of his rhetoric.
“He’s got to get off the heels and got to get out and charge forward,” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said today on “Fox News Sunday.” “I want to see fire in the belly.”
Romney is fighting to refocus his campaign after one of the most difficult weeks of his candidacy, dominated by the publication of a secretly recorded May video in which he derided almost half of all Americans as government-dependent “victims” and a flood of criticism from within his own party.
Romney and his campaign have dismissed concerns that they are mismanaging the race, pointing to national tracking polls that show the contest tightening as Obama’s post-convention bounce fades.
“It doesn’t need a turnaround,” Romney said in an excerpts from CBS’s “60 Minutes” released in advance of the broadcast of his interview tonight. “We’ve got a campaign which is tied with an incumbent president to the United States.”
[h=2]Party Concerns[/h]Still, Romney has struggled to center his message and quell party concerns of potential damage to contests down the Republican ticket, costing congressional seats in competitive Senate and House races.
The Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, said today that it wasn’t the best week for Romney’s campaign and moving forward the party must spend more time describing to voters its plan for the country.
“We need to lay out the vision and lay out the specifics as we are doing, but more clearly and more consistently on a daily basis,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
After complaints that Romney was spending too much time fundraising, the candidate is planning to hold more public events in swing states, changing his weekend plans to add a rally in Colorado later today. After a visit to New York, he’ll embark upon a three-day bus tour in Ohio with running-mate Paul Ryan and hold events in Virginia.
[h=2]Stepping Up Pace[/h]Since his convention ended a month ago, Romney has held three public rallies a week, according to a review of his campaign schedule. Over that same period, he’s done at least 17 fundraisers, wooing donors at mansions in Long Island and over jumbo crab legs in Las Vegas.
Over the past week, Romney has attempted to move beyond his videotaped remarks with a new line of attack, charging Obama with failing to improve the economy because he never mastered Washington.
Today, his campaign released a television ad citing a new book by Washington Post (WPO) reporter Bob Woodward that claims that during the 2009 negotiations over the economic stimulus package, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi muted Obama on a speakerphone.
“If he cannot lead his own party, how can he lead America?” the ad says.
Pelosi has denied the incident occurred. “Clearly, this ad is an act of desperation,” she said in a statement released today.
He’s also sought to transform the controversy over the video into a broader debate about the role of government in the economy under Obama.
[h=2]‘Not Statistics’[/h]“These are not statistics. These are people,” Romney told 1,500 donors at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills last night. “The president’s policies -- these big-government, big-tax monolithic policies -- are not working.”
At the same time, Romney is spending hours preparing for the October debates against Obama, match-ups that his staff deems critical for his campaign. Earlier this month, he holed up in a secluded area of Vermont for three days of sessions with advisers. Since then, he’s squeezed in time in hotel rooms on the campaign trail.
A number of top campaign aides, including campaign manager Matt Rhoades, and Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who’s playing the role of Obama in practice sessions, flew to Los Angeles to spend several hours rehearsing with Romney at the JW Marriott this morning.
[h=2]No Complacency[/h]Obama advisers, too, see the debates as pivotal in the campaign. They’re urging supporters not to get complacent, warning that the race will still be tight.
“Structurally, the way the politics of our country are set up, we knew it was going to be a close race,” said Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod on ABC’s “Face the Nation.” “We’re prepared for a close race.”
Still, there are signs that the contest is tilting in their favor. State surveys by CBS News/New York Times (NYT)/Quinnipiac University gave Obama the lead in Virginia and Wisconsin, home state of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Representative Paul Ryan. Obama and Romney were in a statistical tie in Colorado in polls conducted from Sept. 11 until Sept. 17.
For more than a month, Romney has been pulled off his core economic themes by bipartisan criticism of his comments after the death of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and inflammatory remarks about rape made by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin.
This isn’t the first time his campaign has promised to reboot. Last week, senior adviser Ed Gillespie promised the campaign would shift its message to give “more specifics” about their plans, after reports of internal discord among staff.
Yet even some of his strongest supporters acknowledge that the past few weeks have been particularly disheartening.
“I know you are probably feeling a bit worried, frustrated, even angry,” said Tom Tellefsen, Romney’s California finance director, told donors at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills last night. “Polls are not elections. The voters have not yet spoken.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Los Angeles at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at [email protected]