When President Obama abruptly announced the United States would no longer deport certain illegal immigrants, his opponent in the fall campaign, Republican Mitt Romney, decried it as a political ploy but offered no alternative policy choice.
Instead, Romney did what he has done for the past year: He switched the conversation back to the economy.
In an election year when voters are clearly most anxious about a weak recovery and persistent joblessness, Romney has made the economy a centerpiece of his campaign, arguing that Obama has failed to right the nation because he lacks the vision and skills needed to do that — attributes that Romney, a former business executive, has in abundance.
Romney’s laserlike focus on the economy, seen by many as a strength, often appears to be one of his greatest liabilities. Too often, Romney looks unprepared to deal with other issues, including immigration, said analysts and others, including those who support Romney.
“You can maintain attention on the economy but focus on other issues,” said Alfonso Aguilar of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “He should — and I’m hoping he will — clarify his [immigration] position. He can chew gum and walk at the same time.”
Even when he pivoted to education, Romney spoke not to educators but to a business group and focused largely on the detrimental clout of teachers unions.
While that single-minded focus on the economy is intended to reassure voters that Romney has their greatest concerns at heart, it also allowed Obama to score points against the Republican, analysts note.
When Obama publicly endorsed same-sex marriage, he raked in millions of dollars in campaign contributions while forcing Romney to stray from his economic message.
With his abrupt changes in immigration policy, Obama hoped to expand his support among Hispanics — a voting bloc that grew suspicious of him amid his administration’s record number of deportations — while forcing Romney to react.
Romney is expected to address his stance on immigration at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday. But the issue is a precarious one for the former governor of Massachusetts.
During the Republican presidential primary, while most of his opponents were pledging to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, Romney said he believed illegal immigrants would ultimately “self-deport.” But, in an appeal to conservatives, Romney also ripped Texas Gov. Rick Perry for embracing a state law that gave a tuition break to illegal immigrants.
While Republicans debate whether Romney should be tackling a greater variety of issues on the campaign trail, immigration isn’t necessarily the best one to go after, analysts agreed. Any position Romney takes to appease conservatives in his own party could turn off the independent voters who could make the difference in the election results in November.
“I think it’s a very wise move not to fall into the trap of the Obama campaign by talking about immigration and taking the focus off the economy,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. “There are very hard feelings on immigration issues on both sides. In order to not offend Hispanics, and try to stay away from conservative criticism, he’s not playing Obama’s game.”
