Byron York has a timely column out today making the case that Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital is a political liability not a strength. A Washington Post/ABC News poll out today makes a similar point, finding that a narrow plurality of adults nationally (40 percent to 35 percent) view Romney’s work “buying and restructuring companies” unfavorably.
But those overall numbers are skewed by Democrats who view Romney’s private sector experience unfavorably by a 60-18 margin. Separate polling by Pew show that Democrats also have a net favorable opinion of socialism. That is not a group of voters that would ever vote for a Republican anyway.
Looking at just independent adults, however, Romney’s business experience is a virtual wash with 37 percent viewing it unfavorably and 36 percent viewing it favorably.
And those are all national numbers, an environment where Romney still trails Gingrich. In Florida, where voters have gotten to see Romney on the stump, Romney’s favorables are much better. According to the latest Mason-Dixon poll of registered Florida voters, nearly half (46 percent) viewed “Romney’s business background at Bain Capital, the private equity, venture capital and investment firm he co-founded” positively, while just 30 percent viewed it negatively.
York writes: “Romney and his campaign aides have made the calculation that an I-know-how-to-create-jobs appeal will work in today’s difficult economy.” If this is Romney’s message, it is a loser. President’s don’t create jobs. The private sector does. And Romney seams to get that. Last week he attacked Newt Gingrich’s preposterous job creation claims arguing, “Government doesn’t create jobs. It’s the private sector that creates jobs.”
That is dead on. Romney should elaborate on that line of argument. Currently most journalists like to ask, “What new government program/policy is needed to address X?” This is the wrong approach. A better question would be, “What existing government policy/program is preventing civil society from solving X by itself?”
Romney’s favorablility ratings in Florida show that Americans may finally be willing to hear that message.
