In any primary campaign, the obvious strategy is to ignore your rivals and direct your fire at the general election opponent — and then fall to your knees to hope and pray that that candidate takes the bait and fires back. The point is to marginalize your primary opponents to irrelevance by creating the perception that the race is between two candidates, yours and the November opponent.
It is exactly the strategy Mitt Romney has been taking, and it’s working. President Obama’s team is firing back at Romney almost exclusively according to this report today. That’s great news for the former Massachusetts governor. It will make more Republicans circle their wagons around him and help him raise money off Obama’s remarks.
From the incumbent side, the cardinal rule is to ignore the candidates engaged in a primary to run against you — unless one of those candidates poses a genuine risk. Romney does. Poll after poll is showing Romney close or surpassing Obama in state after state. Romney is now leading in Pennsylvania, which Obama must win, and he is effectively tied in Florida. What’s more alarming to Team Obama, though, is that, in state-after-state, the President polls far below 50, in the 40-43% range. That’s an alarm bell for an incumbent. Undecided voters swing to the challenger by about 65% normally, meaning that President Obama would get trounced today in states he won easily in 2008.
Romney is running an awfully good campaign this year. He’s staying out of the ugliness and raising money, exactly what he should be doing at this point in the race. And when he gets the opportunity to take a clean shot, he aims it at the White House. Fortunately for him, the White House is firing back.
Wal-Mart will be selling the magic underwear soon…
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