Romney to outline how he would govern

KASIE HUNT and KEN THOMAS, Associated Press

Monday, September 17, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney will seek this week to explain more about what he would do as president, a strategy shift intended to change the trajectory of a race that President Barack Obama appears to be winning.

Seven weeks before the election, campaign aides say Romney plans to release a new batch of TV ads, re-focus his campaign appearances on his five-point economic plan and make a series of speeches aimed at offering voters a more concrete outline of his plans for the country.

The shift comes as Republicans openly fret about the state of their nominee's campaign and press Romney to give voters a clearer sense of how he would govern. It also comes as polls show Obama with an edge nationally and in key states, and amid reports of infighting at the Boston-based campaign.

The new ads will highlight Romney's plan to create 12 million jobs, cut the deficit and allow the nation to become energy independent. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney's running mate, will focus on the debt and deficit in a series of campaign appearances. It's all aimed at giving voters a clearer picture of what Romney would do as president, advisers said.

With the new push, Romney is looking to put behind him a turbulent week that saw him stumbling to respond to an ongoing crisis in the Middle East. And he's spent hours preparing for debates, mindful that they may be his last best hope of overtaking Obama.

Romney advisers spent the weekend in Boston hashing out a plan to right his struggling campaign. On Monday, top advisers planned to explain how the campaign would change tact as the candidate himself began a major push to Hispanic voters.

The new ads — one called "The Romney Plan," the other attacking Obama as bad for middle-class families — show Romney doubling down on his core rationale for running: the notion that he can fix the nation's dour economy given his decades of work in the private sector.

The push comes after a new poll by The New York Times and CBS News found that Romney had lost his longstanding edge to Obama on who voters say is most likely to restore the economy and create jobs.

The new strategy represents an attempt to change the dynamics of the race in the few weeks before the first debate on Oct. 3.

That was starting with a speech Monday to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, where Romney planned to outline his long-known specific plans for spending cuts, Medicaid and reducing the federal workforce.

The strategy shift comes as some Republicans worry Romney may be starting to let the campaign get away from him, while others push him to explain more clearly what he would do as president.

Republican concern that Romney's campaign was making mistake after mistake was followed by reports of an organization in disarray. Trouble began with Clint Eastwood's rambling conversation with a chair on the final night of the Republican convention, right before Romney's keynote address omitted the war in Afghanistan or a thanks to the troops serving there.

The intervening weeks have been scattered. Romney ducked battleground states as he hunkered down in Vermont for debate preparation, then spent days defending his decision to omit war from the speech. Polls showed the Democratic convention gave Obama a boost.

Then violence erupted in Egypt and Libya, prompting Romney to put out a statement criticizing the Obama administration before it was known that an American ambassador had died in the attacks. Romney doubled down on his criticism in a press conference the next day.

That drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans alike. Several in his party, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, have urged Romney to give a major foreign affairs speech laying out his critique of Obama.

Romney's team had planned to try to shift the tide by working harder and spending more on TV. The campaign released a flight of ads for different states during the week of the Democratic convention, but later replaced almost all of them with the same ad attacking Obama's record on China. That was just last week; the new pair of ads comes Monday.

The new push follows a Sunday story on the Politico website detailing infighting among Romney's senior staffers. Campaign advisers worked to downplay those tensions, and to insist the campaign is still on track.

"Obama's entire foreign policy is in flames. The economy is terrible. Let's get a little distance from the convention," top strategist Stuart Stevens wrote in an email Sunday morning.

In Los Angeles, Romney was opening a fresh appeal to Latino voters on Monday, looking to narrow Obama's advantage with them in key battleground states.

Thomas reported from Los Angeles.

More like this story

RobHunterJohnson 9 months ago

Well lets see the plan? Rob

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

They are with his tax returns; we can't see them. Ann Romney said, "We've already given you people enough."

RobHunterJohnson 9 months ago

I read his aarp interview, more of the same, and still Nothing. He will bet you $10,000.00, and he thinks that Middle Class makes $200,000. to $250,000.. He is out of touch with the American People

JCLifer 9 months ago

And Obama says that $40,000 and above is "wealthy".

We are so hosed this election. Can't they find any better candidates?

I hate this. i hate where our country has gone. i hate where it will head with either candidate. We are seriously hosed. Things just keep getting worse and worse. There is no bright light at the end of the tunnel because the tunnle is collapsing on top of us.

asb 9 months ago

You guys are really having a Monday . . .

dokeus6 9 months ago

Lifer, you and Grace, specl, and grumpy gus kill me. You folks think the country has gotten like this in the last four years.

This country will always be headed towards the abyss due to the corrupt politicians and will be full of scandals as long as greed and thirst for power lurks in the human heart. Lincoln Assassination, Kennedy Assassination, Watergate, MonicaGate. I could go on and on with the corruption. We are supposed to be such a religious country but on the contrary we are the most hypocritical country on the face of the earth. Why do you think other countries hate us? It's not because of our wealth. It's because of the hypocrisy they see from our leaders. This has taken a long time to develop. Not just the last four years.

RobHunterJohnson 9 months ago

Run, Run, Run, and ad infinitum. Then they will say My God, what have we done! Vote Obama 2012, Buy American Rob

eileen10 9 months ago

The more I read about Romney the sicker I get. There has never been a moment of hesitation of who I will vote for. President Obama of course and Rob...I buy American : )

newone 9 months ago

I agree with you eileen10, I acutally was giving him a chance until the tax return issue came up and every since he has done nothing but draw my opinion of him farther and farther down and it has nothing to do with him being Republican either, I vote for who I think will do the best job and right now Romeny is NOT the man for the job!

dokeus6 9 months ago

Seven weeks until re-election and he is changing the focus of his campaign. This is what we can count on if he is President. Flip-Flop, Flip-Flop.

eileen10 9 months ago

Yes newone. He just seems to be cutting his throat deeper and deeper. I too vote for whose best for the job. Romney is hanging on by the skin of his teeth. Soon he'll be gumless, poor guy.

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

Nope. Your Rasmussen poll had Mitt ahead by one point. All the others, even Fox, have Obama ahead by five. Oversampling? Explain if you can. Please try to make it plausible.

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

That's imaginative, almost fanciful, but not plausible or convincing. I skipped Breitbart but I read the Fox story and some of the more panicky blogs. It's a serious misrepresentation about polling.

If you could find 500 staunch Republicans and 500 staunch Democrats, you'd have both candidates at 50% and a real imaginary horse-race. The reality is that voters identify with parties, and if more people identify as Democrats when the phone rings, that doesn't mean the polling is biased. It means the GOP is behind.

If the GOP could have fielded a war hero like John McCain in 2008 or maybe a younger John Mccain that the far right felt they could trust enough so McCain could have picked a running mate that was not frightening to 55% of the voters, they would have beaten Obama by that 55% to Obama's 45%. I would have voted for McCain over Obama in that case.

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

Stick a fork in it - or rather, listen to Mitt stick a fork in it. He started making his own excuses for losing at a fundraiser yesterday. If anyone needs a link to the viral video, I will go and fetch it.

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

You could read the post by 3336 below. It was a big fork.

3336 9 months ago

Well,unless you already have lots of money; Romney was just seen in a meeting with private folks talking about people or the 47% of the country that depends on the government and he is not worried about them. This was a video just shown on the tv. So, he stated he is not concerned about ordinary people. However, he did not realize he was being taped!!!!!!! Also, when medicare and medicaid are mentioned by anyone, for me it is not an entitlement, because it was taken out of my check every 2 wks, so the government is not giving me anything, I worked for it and paid it myself, so all this about giving is not true,also I receive Social Security now and that was taken out of my check. So I don't understand where all this nonsense comes from, no one can receive Social Security unless they worked!!!!!

eileen10 9 months ago

I just saw the video. I think he just threw the election to President Obama.

RobHunterJohnson 9 months ago

3336, I saw the video as well, and have to agree. Mitt Romeny is out of touch with the American people! It looks to me like Grace posted some fancy math, right out of the GOPS play book. I am not done with my work yet, but Social Security has recieved right at $300,000 dollars to date from myself, and my employers. Social Security is not a Entitlement, it is a PROMISE. Medicare works, both need to be tweeked, but not the Ryan/ Romeny way! Of the 47% Romeny was refering to 18% pay no taxes most are poor elderly? Here is some figures to mull, The Romeny/Ryan plan: if you retire and go on medicare in 2012 over an average lifespan you will pay an extra $11,100. (Age of 65 today), 2023 $59,500. (54), 2030 $124,600. (48), 2040 $216,600. (39), 2050 $331,200. (29), (American progress action fund). Evereything goes up, that is a fact I have seen my entire life, but the Romeny/Ryan/Insurance company plan? Alot of the voters are focused on a couple of issues, and they are good issues. There is alot more at stake. Romeny/Ryan = VOUCHERS Buy American Rob

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