Shift in tone of the Romney camp.

[Ed Suspicious]

I noticed the past couple of days that Rmoney has been "owning" his time as Massachusetts' governor. He seems to be touting his accomplishments achieved while working with a 70%+ Democratic legislature. This can't help him with the crazies he's spent all of the primary season pandering to till now.

I think the shift toward the independents is the only way he stood a chance and I hoped he would never make that shift. Thoughts on this?

[Broderick]

1. They usually all shift to the middle once nominated

Play to the base and then swing over. He is doing his jig dance a wee bit early. Why? Probably because it is a forgone conclusion that he is the nominee.

[sofa king]

19. He should have done it a month ago.

There is some indication that tacking to the center was the plan, as inexpertly tipped by one of Romney's press-jesters shortly after he sealed his nomination. It also seems likely that his own people planned the two-month gap between the end of the primaries and the convention (deftly avoiding the Olympics).

But Romney has a problem, which is that nobody liked him in 2008, nobody likes him still, and the people who really don't like him are the far right-wingers on whom he and the rest of the GOP depends on election day. Rather than tack to his usual weasel-way in the center, he has spent the past month acting like an asshole, which apparently is his version of "authoritarian," which is what the teabillies require in a leader.

Worse still, the President's attention turned like the Eye of Sauron on Romney (if Sauron had been a reasonable guy and Frodo was a lying prick who would steal the cream from your coffee), trashing the business record Romney was going to run to the middle with, while Romney was still busy trying to win the affection of the snake handlers and egg picklers.

Then the fool let himself get cornered on his own taxes at the exact same time that the larger Democratic plan to make Republicans vote against a middle class tax cut extension came down. We couldn't have picked a better lightning rod to draw attention to the matter. We definitely maneuvered him into it.

At this point, Mitt's campaign is effectively working against every Republican in the country. Soon he will have to try squirming to the center, and nobody will like him there, either.

[DearAbby]

2. Obama team will address this

they have been since day one. Making it impossible for Romney to Pivot to the center, this is a bold move on their part.

Now for the Obama team to counter. They can't let him out of the corner.

[rox63]

3. Then we need to talk about his record in MA

Because it was piss-poor.

[demwing]

4. I've always thought Romney would swerve back toward the center

after the convention, once he had the nomination fully locked.

Romney has a history of centrist policy making - this is a return home for the former Massachusetts governor that created Health Care reform in MA, was pro-choice, and believed in bi-partisanship.

Watch his VP pick - he will go left, not right.

[ailsagirl]

5. Desperation evident

He's all over the map-- now he's backtracking on his (previously ignored) tenure as governor????

[Rosa Luxemburg]

20. "Titanic" is desperate

he's trying to grasp at anything that might make him look good.

[TeamPooka]

6. Gov. of MA = Bain

Just like his time at Bain he will only want to talk about specific things he did as Gov, not for example his healthcare policy he implemented.
So he will want credit for what he wants credit for while disavowing what he sees as politically expedient to do so.
He's such a darn weasel.

[rocktivity]

7. No tax returns, no independent voters

At least, not enough of them to win.

Some independents might be comfortable with voting for a public servant who won't strip down to his financial skivvies. But most of them will either vote for Obama, vote for Obama again, or stay home.


rocktivity

[yellowcanine]

8. Etch a Sketch Implementation Under Way!

Developing.......

[Proud Liberal Dem]

9. I'm sure the teabaggers will love to hear about his "bipartisan" accomplishments

including Romneycare! They only have one mode when it comes to Democrats/bipartisanship: "Hate"

If they think (even for a second) that a Romney Presidency will be conciliatory towards Democrats or "bipartisan" in the least, then..............

[notadmblnd]

10. He's resetting. you know,like the robot he is

'World News' Political Insights: Mitt Romney Looks for August Reset

The nation has met Barack Obama's Mitt Romney. If it's going to meet Romney's version of himself, it will happen this month, or not at all.

It was supposed to start last month, with picked-up ad spending and a foreign trip built around a choreographed Olympic moment. But the foreign trip fell flat amid distractions at every stop, and Democrats continued to break through with their assault on Romney's transparency and business record.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mitt-romney-august-reset-world-news-political-insights/story?id=16935480#.UCF2ryqF93E

[magical thyme]

16. the foreign trip fell flat amid distractions at every stop,

distractions? DISTRACTIONS? I guess that's one way to refer to a "presidential-looking" candidate walking around with both of his own feet, along with a horse's hoof or two, jammed into his mouth.

[progressivebydesign]

11. Easy to tout when you've erased ALL hard disks from your time there. n/t

[Blue Idaho]

12. If he moves to the center

He loses his base. He is screwed.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

14. He may have to pick another wing-nut for VP

which won't do him any good in the least.

[Yavin4]

13. The Tax Returns Issue Sucks All of the Air Out of His Campaign

No matter how much he "shifts".

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

15. Health Care

Bring up Health Care in Massachusetts and Romney will SWEAR he was never the governor.

[RedStateLiberal]

17. 47th in job creation

Bought hard drives to hide records of what he did as Gov.

Romneycare

Bring it on!

[FSogol]

18. Denial? Or Acceptance?