Romney Struggles to Gain Traction in Battlegrounds [What Must Romney Do? Sack His Campaign Mgr?]

Wall St. J ^ | September 09, 2012 | SARA MURRAY and LAURA MECKLER

[Steelfish]

September 9, 2012 Romney Struggles to Gain Traction in Battlegrounds

By SARA MURRAY and LAURA MECKLER

With two months to Election Day, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney faces the disconcerting reality that he isn't winning most of the states he would need to beat President Barack Obama.

A new Public Policy Polling survey released Sunday, taken after both parties' conventions, found Mr. Obama leading Mr. Romney 50% to 45% in Ohio, an improvement on the president's earlier advantage. Meanwhile, Florida and Virginia remained neck and neck.

Mr. Obama is leading Mr. Romney by small margins in seven of the eight battleground states, all but North Carolina, according to averages of public polls compiled by RealClearPolitics. All are within the margins of error, and most don't include reactions to the Democratic convention and Friday's dismal jobs report.

This pattern is by no means set, and the Romney campaign is banking that voters' disillusion with the economy will win out in the end. In past elections, however, where candidates stand in mid-September can be a good indicator of the final result. That means Mr. Romney has little time to alter a race that for months has been essentially static.

Given the soft economy, "the case for firing President Obama is really pretty obvious, but the case for hiring Mitt Romney is one that has yet to be made," said Charlie Cook, an independent political analyst who edits the Cook Political Report.

Romney campaign advisers said the race was still tight and that they felt confident after the GOP gathering in Tampa, Fla.

[ConservativeStatement]

Illegal aliens and illegal immigration should have been the primary focus from early. Stop being timid. Do a campaign ad where it shows that all Americans have to produce an ID to buy a beer, cash a check, whatever, so why not to vote?

A caller to Dennis Miller had an idea for a campaign ad where Obama’s limo pulls up to a stalled vehicle and tells the driver that he (Obama) just called someone to help him. Meanwhile, Romney drives by, sees the driver has a flat and fixes it. Stop this spineless side show. We need to fight.

[dandiegirl]

He needs to tell people what a radical BO is and remind people of his mentors and what they stood for and the vision BO wants for America. This gets people fired up and yes, with the 911 anniversary coming up, he should remind people what BO’s “mentor” said about America—the “rev wright. If he can’t do this then he is McCain all over again. And yes, he needs to fire whomever is running this pansy campaign and get someone that knows how to play hardball—that would be Newt.

[MtnClimber]

I think Romney has RINOs and Leftists corrupting his ranks. He needs to weed them out for the USA first, and for his victory second.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Either way I just need to survive until after the election and then FR can get back to normal.

[Ingtar]

Sack himself, at least as far as message is concerned, and take on Ryan’s message rather than his own. He could go the whole way, but I would never expect him to do that. He keeps corrupting his message. “Replace” is a bad word, for one.