“President Obama has his opponent: Mitt Romney. Here are some things we all need to remember about him—and make sure our friends know, too.”-Barack Obama.com
LA Times reports — It may be Mitt Romney’s first full day as the presumptive Republican nominee for president, but Democrats hope the legacy of the hard-edged GOP primary will linger on just a bit longer.
The Obama campaign Wednesday morning had ready a best-of highlight reel of Romney statements made as he courted conservative voters, a YouTube video it titled “Memories to last a lifetime.”
Among the sound bites recycled were Romney saying, “Corporations are people, my friend,” “I like being able to fire people,” and, “I was a severely conservative Republican governor.”
It also shows Romney expressing support for overturning the Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade, applauding the House Republican budget blueprint, and vowing to veto the DREAM Act.
The nearly two-minute video, produced by the Obama reelection squad’s “Truth Team,” closes with onscreen text that reads: “Mitt Romney: A severely conservative nominee. Remember that.”
Once it became clear weeks ago that Romney controlled the path to the GOP nomination, the Obama campaign and Democratic allies became increasingly eager to begin turning the page to the general election fight. As with any presidential reelection campaign, their strategy is to frame the election as a choice between the two nominees, not as a referendum on the incumbent.
The Romney campaign may have played into that trap on its own Wednesday morning. Democrats quickly pounced on the rival outfit for seeming to hesitate when asked on a conference call with reporters whether Romney supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act that calls for equal pay for women in the work force. It was one of the first pieces of legislation Obama signed as president.
“We’ll get back to you on that,” a Romney spokesman said on the call, a portion of which the Democratic National Committee sent out.
Barely an hour later, the Obama campaign put out a statement from Ledbetter herself saying she was “shocked and disappointed to hear that Mitt Romney is not willing to stand up for women and their families.”
