That Pesky Oppo Book

Posted by Bob Lord

Earlier today, BlogForArizona reported on Mitt's investment in Stericycle, a firm that handles the disposal of aborted fetuses.

http://www.blogforarizona.com/blog/2012/07/romney-stericycle-and-aborted-fetuses.html#more

So continues the drip, drip, drip of unsavory snippets from Mitt's past. You could see this coming a mile away. Mitt has not been careful with his activities and statements, financial and otherwise, his entire life, all the way up to 2010, when he was stupid enough to leave investments in Switzerland and the Caymans for all to see when he released his tax return. He has done and said whatever worked best for hinm at the time, with little regard for long=term implications. Thus, he was a moderate when it suited his desire to be the Governor of Massachusetts, but "severely conservative" when he wanted Tea Partiers to choose him over Rick Santorum. He largely could avoid major damage on this front when he was running against a bunch of cash-strapped right wingers whose Presidential ambitions never were all that serious and who didn't bother to do quality oppo research. But now he's playing in an entirely different leage. Quite clearly, the Obama team took its opposition research seriously and we're going to see a steady release, item by item, from an oppostion research book they've that is probably four inches thick. The Bain Capital chapter of that book is perhaps the longest, but it's certainly not the only chapter. We've already heard a little about his Cranbrook High exploits. 

Think about it. If we're hearing about Stericycle and Cranbrook HIgh now, what will we be hearing about in September? Will the release of any one item be devastating to Romney? No. But each item impacts a pool of voters uniquely and places that pool beyond Romney's reach. For example, most voters aren't going to vote against Romney because they learned that he was a bully in high school. But bullying victims, their parents, children and siblings will have a lot of trouble voting for Romney. In addiion, the cumulative effect of the opposition research on Romney, come November, will be substantial.

If the economy tanks, all bets of course are off. Otherwise, the Obama campaign strategy appears impressive. First, use Romney's campaign statements and record at Bain and as Mass Gov to define him as elitist, far right, out of touch, and a flip-flopper, while letting Romney handle the unlikeable part for himself. Second, define the election as a choice between Romney's reinstitution of Bush's failed policies and the policies Obama has implemented to put us back on the right track. Third, run up the score with voting blocks where Romney is weak — Latinos, LGBT, single women, etc.  And fourth, use all that opposition research to turn random voters and keep Romney on defense far more than he wants to be.