If imitation is the highest form of respect, then Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney should appreciate Vice President Joe Biden’s strategy for attacking Republicans and appealing to voters in Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania, because it’s almost exactly the same plan Romney has for campaigning against President Obama.
Biden has a simple job this campaign cycle. “All he has to do is ask voters, has the Republican strategy of no worked for you?” explained Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
That rhetorical strategy effectively mimics Romney, who has attacked Obama by quoting Ronald Reagan’s question, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Romney has used that line to distinguish between his campaign and Obama’s. ““The president’s new campaign is that its all about, not, ‘are you better off than you were four years ago?’ Romney said on Morning Joe, “but ‘is there someone we can blame?’ – ‘is there someone we can attack?” – ‘can we separate the haves and the have nots?’”
Obama and Biden face a difficulty in that Republicans only control the U.S. House, and have only had power there since the 2010 midterms, whereas Obama has been in office since 2008 and Democrats controlled both the House and Senate until 2010.
Even while trying to blame Republicans for the economy, Israel admitted recently that Obama will struggle to evade responsibility for the economy. “[I]t should be no surprise that people hold the president, of either party, responsible for [weak job creation],” Israel said on MSNBC.
