ELECTION 2012  

Informed Comment / By Juan Cole

Ten Pieces of Bad News for Romney Heading into the GOP Convention

Isaac isn't the only storm the Romney-Ryan campaign is sailing through.

August 27, 2012  |  

 

 

 

1. Ron Paul declined the opportunity to speak at the Republican Convention  because he does not “fully support” Mr. Romney. Paul as the leader of the Libertarian wing of the party and as someone who appeals to youth may just have done some damage, fomenting division at Tampa in Republican ranks.

2. Romney staffers were hoping for a bounce in Florida because the GOP convention is being held in Tampa. But former  Republican governor of Florida Charlie Crist has come out  for President Obama.

3. Some 60% of likely voters say Obama is in tune with the problems of women. Only 30% say that about  Romney.

4. Romney is so  tone deaf that he keeps talking about his Swiss and Cayman Islands secret bank accounts.  His complaint that he is not going to manipulate his life by closing them reminds me of the BP chairman’s complaint that the Gulf oil spill was making his life miserable.

5. A new poll of likely voters  gives Obama a 9-point lead in Pennsylvania. Romney is way behind in electoral college delegates and would need to shift a major state like Pennsylvania into the red column if he is going to win. But that strategy may not be feasible for him.

6. Romney’s  relationship to Bain Capital and the continued tax benefits  he received from it at a time he says he had already left, may reemerge as campaign issues.

7. The specter of Todd Akin of “legitimate rape” notoriety haunts Tampa. Mike Huckabee, who will address the convention, may be planning to defend the Missouri senate candidate  who said women can’t get pregnant from being raped. Romney has been running hard away from Akin even as the GOP platform has adopted the “no exceptions” Akin plank in opposition to abortion. See number 3 above.

8. 53% of voters say that Obama “cares about the needs of people;” Romney? Only 39% say that about him.

9. The American public  likes Federal services  and does not want to give them up for the sake of tax cuts for billionaires. Romney’s plan? Cut Federal services so as to give his rich cronies tax breaks.

10. Romney had hoped for the undivided attention of the press and the public at Tampa, so as to launch himself into the last phase of the campaign. But he may well have to compete with  Hurricane Isaac, especially  if it gathers strength in the Gulf and slams into the coast.

Juan Cole is a professor of history at the University of Michigan and maintains the blog Informed Comment.