Tuesday night could easily have been a boring unremarkable evening in a Republican primary race that was already over with presumptive nominee Mitt Romney appearing somewhere in Pennsylvania to claim victory in another non-competitive contest. Instead by moving to New Hampshire and framing the evening as Romneys assumption of the mantle of Republican nominee the Romney campaign created a semi-official kickoff of the general election campaign. Doing so allowed Romney to establish up key themes campaign in an important swing state and get more press coverage than he otherwise would
It didnt just happen. Romney aides have been planning the end of the primary campaign for quite a while. Sometimes they got it too early declaring the race over when it wasnt. But after the April 3 Wisconsin primary and Rick Santorums departure from the campaign on April 10 the race really was over. It was Romneys task to take some note of that and then move on.
Romney accomplished the first part of that task last week in a speech to state GOP chairmen meeting in Phoenix. The time had come he said to recognize his rivals from the long campaign. Let me also commend the people who had the courage to run for president on our side of the aisle this year Romney said. Some still running some have gotten out of the race…Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain and Rick Perry and Ron Paul and Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Each is going to provide a vital role in making sure that we win in November. Thank you this extraordinary team. We have all fought hard and well and were going to fight for the things we believe in.
It was the first time Romney had mentioned in a summing-up kind of way all of his rivals by name. And doing it in Phoenix before party officials meant that he would not need to do it in New Hampshire where his emphasis would be on the coming campaign not the one just ended.
So in New Hampshire -- picked by Romney because it was the site of his first victory this year and also an important general election state -- Romney began by thanking the voters who gave him victories in Tuesdays primaries but moved quickly to declare the primary race over. And tonight I can say thank you America Romney continued. After 43 primaries and caucuses many long days and more than a few long nights I can say with confidence and gratitude that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility. And together we will win on November 6th!
Rather than outline any specific proposals Romneys speech was an effort to introduce himself to the general election electorate and to establish big themes for the race. The target audience was not loyal Republicans who will vote for him under any circumstances. Instead Romney -- standing behind a lectern with the sign A Better America Begins Tonight -- directed his words to voters who were once caught up in the enthusiasm for Barack Obama. Four years ago Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change Romney said. But after we came down to earth after the celebration and parades what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?
Sixty million people voted against Obama in 2008 and its fair to say that many of them were not at all dazzled by Greek columns or transported by promises of hope and change. This time around theyre not going to vote for Obama either. Romney wasnt talking to them. He was talking to voters who once chose Obama and are now disappointed.
Romney discussed values and his vision for America. He didnt talk about the things that play a big part in his daily stump speech. A lot of key words in the Romney campaign didnt appear Tuesday night. The words tax and taxes didnt appear. The words deficit and spending didnt appear. There was no budget. No growth. Romney also didnt use the word conservative -- a word he used more than 20 times to describe himself during a speech earlier this year to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Instead Romneys speech was filled with phrases like good and decent Americans and fighting chance and principles of freedom and opportunity and fundamentally fair.
That last word -- fair -- was also a signal to the Obama campaign. The president has made it clear that he intends to make the campaign in large part about fairness -- an issue he believes Democrats own -- and portray Romney as a rich guy out to protect other rich guys. But in New Hampshire Tuesday night Romney staked out a fairness theme of his own:
We will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice; we will stop the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends businesses; we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; we will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve; and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next.
Romney used the words fair or unfairness six times in the speech -- twice as many times as Obama himself used fair in his speech Tuesday at the University of North Carolina. By doing so Romney made it clear he does not intend to allow Obama to own the very concept of fairness.
Romney will return to everyday campaigning soon enough. But his speech Tuesday night was an attempt to construct a frame into which future everyday campaigning will fit. His campaign -- if he is able to stick to the plan -- will be about big things as big as the problems facing the United States. Yes the Romney campaign will respond aggressively in Twitter fights over comments by cable TV pundits. But when it comes to what the candidate himself does Romney plans to stay big and in the process make Barack Obama look small.
Tuesday night could easily have been a boring unremarkable evening in a Republican primary race that was already over with presumptive nominee Mitt Romney appearing somewhere in Pennsylvania to claim victory in another non-competitive contest. Instead by moving to New Hampshire and framing the evening as Romneys assumption of the mantle of Republican nominee the Romney campaign created a semi-official kickoff of the general election campaign. Doing so allowed Romney to establish up key themes campaign in an important swing state and get more press coverage than he otherwise would
It didnt just happen. Romney aides have been planning the end of the primary campaign for quite a while. Sometimes they got it too early declaring the race over when it wasnt. But after the April 3 Wisconsin primary and Rick Santorums departure from the campaign on April 10 the race really was over. It was Romneys task to take some note of that and then move on.
Romney accomplished the first part of that task last week in a speech to state GOP chairmen meeting in Phoenix. The time had come he said to recognize his rivals from the long campaign. Let me also commend the people who had the courage to run for president on our side of the aisle this year Romney said. Some still running some have gotten out of the race…Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain and Rick Perry and Ron Paul and Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Each is going to provide a vital role in making sure that we win in November. Thank you this extraordinary team. We have all fought hard and well and were going to fight for the things we believe in.
It was the first time Romney had mentioned in a summing-up kind of way all of his rivals by name. And doing it in Phoenix before party officials meant that he would not need to do it in New Hampshire where his emphasis would be on the coming campaign not the one just ended.
So in New Hampshire -- picked by Romney because it was the site of his first victory this year and also an important general election state -- Romney began by thanking the voters who gave him victories in Tuesdays primaries but moved quickly to declare the primary race over. And tonight I can say thank you America Romney continued. After 43 primaries and caucuses many long days and more than a few long nights I can say with confidence and gratitude that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility. And together we will win on November 6th!
Rather than outline any specific proposals Romneys speech was an effort to introduce himself to the general election electorate and to establish big themes for the race. The target audience was not loyal Republicans who will vote for him under any circumstances. Instead Romney -- standing behind a lectern with the sign A Better America Begins Tonight -- directed his words to voters who were once caught up in the enthusiasm for Barack Obama. Four years ago Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change Romney said. But after we came down to earth after the celebration and parades what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?
Sixty million people voted against Obama in 2008 and its fair to say that many of them were not at all dazzled by Greek columns or transported by promises of hope and change. This time around theyre not going to vote for Obama either. Romney wasnt talking to them. He was talking to voters who once chose Obama and are now disappointed.
Romney discussed values and his vision for America. He didnt talk about the things that play a big part in his daily stump speech. A lot of key words in the Romney campaign didnt appear Tuesday night. The words tax and taxes didnt appear. The words deficit and spending didnt appear. There was no budget. No growth. Romney also didnt use the word conservative -- a word he used more than 20 times to describe himself during a speech earlier this year to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Instead Romneys speech was filled with phrases like good and decent Americans and fighting chance and principles of freedom and opportunity and fundamentally fair.
That last word -- fair -- was also a signal to the Obama campaign. The president has made it clear that he intends to make the campaign in large part about fairness -- an issue he believes Democrats own -- and portray Romney as a rich guy out to protect other rich guys. But in New Hampshire Tuesday night Romney staked out a fairness theme of his own:
We will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice; we will stop the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends businesses; we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; we will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve; and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next.
Romney used the words fair or unfairness six times in the speech -- twice as many times as Obama himself used fair in his speech Tuesday at the University of North Carolina. By doing so Romney made it clear he does not intend to allow Obama to own the very concept of fairness.
Romney will return to everyday campaigning soon enough. But his speech Tuesday night was an attempt to construct a frame into which future everyday campaigning will fit. His campaign -- if he is able to stick to the plan -- will be about big things as big as the problems facing the United States. Yes the Romney campaign will respond aggressively in Twitter fights over comments by cable TV pundits. But when it comes to what the candidate himself does Romney plans to stay big and in the process make Barack Obama look small.
