GOP Strategists Split Over Ideas for Romney

Republican insiders diverge as to what strategy Mitt Romney should follow to erase the lead President Barack Obama has taken in recent polls.

“What he is doing is not working, obviously,” Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who helped guide Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign told The Hill. “There’s nothing that says, ‘I am really committed to X,Y, and Z.’ There is no ‘hope and change’ type of big message.”

The average of the last six national polls compiled by Real Clear Politics shows Obama ahead by 3.7 percentage points. And his lead is growing in important swing states.

With the unemployment rate standing at 8.1 percent and the economy growing just 1.3 percent in the second quarter, many strategists say Romney’s best move would be to simply focus on those issues. They believe he should pound home the case that Obama is incompetent to handle the economy, while Romney can ride to the rescue.

Some say Romney’s approach hasn’t been focused enough. They think he’s wasting time taking on Obama over trade with China, the defense budget, and the Mideast.

The presidential debate Wednesday gives Romney an opportunity to refocus. Some see it as a double-edged sword. “When he’s prepared and he understands the facts and the message he wants to deliver, he can be very formidable, he can be aggressive, and he can stick to his guns,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Politico.

“If he has to suddenly start conjuring things up that were a surprise or an angle he was not ready for, he’s not really as strong.”