Another reason not to vote for Mitt Romney: he’s a bloody jogger. No surprise there, I suppose. Anyway, despite that, this new Romney ad, is not without interest.
Jason Zengerle observes that Romney is playing up his “competency candidate” credentials, pivoting away from his previous pandering to social and evangelical conservatives. And so he is, but doesn’t this also reveal that Romney probably agrees that the Bush presidency has been, well, a disaster. After all, this ad boasts about Romney’s proven record of turning around failing companies (and “rescuing” both the Salt Lake City Olympics and the state of Massachusetts). Why would you mention this if you didn’t think America needed saving? Yes, Romney says it’s about changing “Washington” but that’s a tough sell when your own party has held the White House for the past eight years and Congress for six of them. Sure, Nicolas Sarkozy managed the neat trick of being the “change” candidate in France even while being a member of th incumbent party but I don’t see Romney emulating Sarko’s success.
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