After letting President Obama and his allies define his tenure at Bain Capital for months, Mitt Romney finally seems to be making a positive case for why the experience will make him a better president. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Romney recounts a number of turnaround stories, including:
The investigation revealed a need to make some changes, which we did. The company, along with several other clinical-laboratory companies, ended up being fined for billing practices. And a Damon manager who was responsible for the fraud went to jail. The experience taught me that when you see a problem, run toward it or it will only get worse.
That will be my approach to our federal budget problem. I am committed to capping federal spending below 20% of GDP and reducing nondefense discretionary spending by 5%. This will surely result in much wailing and gnashing of teeth in Washington. But a failure of leadership has created our debt crisis, and ducking responsibility will only cripple the economy and smother opportunity for our children and grandchildren.
This is the type of message Team Obama has been fearing all along. They know the American people believe the U.S. economy is still broke and that even if Obama didn’t break it, he clearly has not fixed it.
Polls still show that Obama has successfully made Bain a negative for Romney. If Romney can turn those numbers around, this election will not be close.
Campaign 2012
Polls: A new Fox News poll shows Romney/Ryan beating Obama/Biden 45 percent to 44 percent among likely voters. The last Fox poll, taken before Romney selected Ryan, shows Obama up by nine, 49 to 40.
Obama: The Washington Post reports that Obama plans to win the election by relying on his massive campaign staff, which outnumbers Romney’s 3-to-1, to personally turn out voters to the polls.
Romney: Campaigning in New Mexico Thursday, Mitt Romney released details on his energy plan which would return power to the statesfor many mining and drilling decisions. And in North Carolina, Paul Ryan told Obama to ‘put or shut up’ on the defense spending sequester.
Missouri Senate: Despite a new Rasmussen poll showing “legitimate rape” utterer Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., down by 10 to Sen. Claire McCaskill, R-Mo., Mike Huckabee is urging Akin to stay in the race and is attacking Romney for suggesting otherwise.
In Other News
The Wall Street Journal, U.S. weekly jobless claims up slightly to 372,000: Applications for U.S. jobless benefits rose by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 in the week ended Aug. 18, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The Washington Post, Household income is below recession levels, report says: Household income is down sharply since the recession ended three years ago, according to a report released Thursday, providing another sign of the stubborn weakness of the economic recovery.
The New York Times, Signs Suggest Iran Is Speeding Up Work on Nuclear Program: International nuclear inspectors will soon report that Iran has installed hundreds of new centrifuges in recent months and may also be speeding up production of nuclear fuel while negotiations with the United States and its allies have ground to a near halt, according to diplomats and experts briefed on the findings.
Righty Playbook
The Weekly Standard‘s John McCormack posts audio of Obama arguing against legislation protecting infants who survive attempted late-term abortions.
Get Religion collects evidence showing that “either reporters are pushing an agenda supportive of abortion rights or they’re idiots.?
In Foreign Affairs, Walter Russell Mead reviews Seane Trende’s The Lost Majority: Why the Future of Government Is Up for Grabs — and Who Will Take It.
Lefty Playbook
James Fallows breaks down Obama’s debate strategy.
Time‘s Michael Grunwald whines about how the opposition party opposed Obama.
Gawker, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, has released 950 pages of documents related to Romney’s accounts in the Cayman Islands.
