When you piece it all together, Monday may have provided a potential preview of the general election, with Democratic officials and Mitt Romney engaged in an all-day food fight over the Republican frontrunner’s history of shifting positions.
The DNC started things off with a limited 30-second ad buy in swing states on “Mitt vs. Mitt,” focusing specifically on his shifts on abortion and health care. They also launched a website, MittvMitt.com, a longer web video that included more of his greatest hits as well as footage of late night hosts mocking Romney’s consistency, and held conference calls to bash Romney on the issue further.
“The Republicans’ favorite straw man is to talk about uncertainty,” DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse told reporters. “If people are scared of uncertainty they should be terrified of Mitt Romney.”
The move came as news broke that Romney’s position on whether to offer a path to citizenship or permanent residency for illegal immigrants, a policy he now derides as “amnesty” and a “magnet,” has shifted as well.
It’s hardly the newest line of attack against Romney, but Democrats are working overtime to revive the “flip flop” line against Romney in the hopes of either softening him up for President Obama or — their ultimate dream — paving the way for one of his less electable rivals to win the nomination.
The Romney campaign played up this general election angle in their response, which included a full day of press calls hosted by supporters in states — notably, general election swing states — around the country, including New Hampshire, Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina, and Florida.
“This Administration does not want to campaign against Mitt Romney and be forced to defend three years of failure,” national campaign co-chair Tim Pawlenty said. “Instead of focusing on the middle class and job creation, President Obama and Democrats are focused on campaigning and trying to tear down Mitt Romney.”
But backers mostly avoided the substance of the “flip flop” attacks, focusing instead on bashing Obama for negative campaigning and distracting from the economy.
“The fact is, it is a campaign tactic that really belies the fact that a sitting President can’t run on his record,” former Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), a Romney supporter, told TPM when asked whether the underlying “flip flop” accusation was accurate. Martinez responded to the Democrats’ ad by noting that he accepted Romney as a pro-life politician despite his past positions.
“A lot of this ad talks about the life issue,” he said. “I’m pro-life and I would much rather have President Romney.”
Of course, the Romney camp also showed they can dish out their opposition research. In a clever move, they resurfaced quotes from DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz from her days supporting Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries questioning his reliability in similar terms to recent attacks on Romney.
If Romney holds on to win the primaries, expect a lot more days like Monday. It’s clear that Democrats are as eager to define Romney early as untrustworthy and inconsistent as Romney is eager to step up to the frontrunner’s plate and tangle with Democrats directly.
