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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (123185)	10/9/2012 6:54:40 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

Inside the campaign: The Romney rebellion Even now, many Romney officials wonder whether the change can be sustained. In essence, Romney is trying to undergo a political metamorphosis — to shed an image of personal stiffness, and to emerge loose and willing to compromise. Romney, advisers concede, is at his worst when improvising — and this shift is the biggest improvisation of the campaign. Right now, Romney is described as going with the flow, trying to quickly grow into this new public persona, most notably with his decision to tell personal stories on the stump. Campaign officials said any change will be confined by Romney’s own cautious nature. And they are candid that their electoral map still looks terrible: Romney is behind in nearly every vital state. Ohio still looks very tough to win and New Hampshire, once a possibility, looks very bleak, officials say. But one big reason for hope inside the Romney campaign is that conservatives were so down on the campaign before the debate — and so rapturous during it — that they will give him a lot of maneuvering room to talk in more moderate ways.With several polls showing Romney bouncing back nationally, his aides contend they are well equipped to keep the race close until Election Day. The polls show increasing Republican enthusiasm, which is driving Boston’s optimism. Romney aides hope they can then conjure that into momentum going into next week’s second debate, despite the setback of last week’s strong jobs figures, which helped Obama get off the mat. “These rallies are going to be carried more on cable, on the [local] news, and people are now seeing him as a possible president,” a Romney aide said. “In that context, people who are undecided will be looking a lot more closely.” The campaign’s close-the-deal playbook includes more personal portrayals of Romney in advertising and on the stump; the policy speeches, which are designed to give him a substantive, presidential aura; and a renewed fight to save Ohio, which now leans clearly to Obama, by copying President George W. Bush’s 2004 strategy of goosing sky-high Republican turnout in the state’s conservative west and south. Behind the scenes, the high command has changed with the candidate. Senior adviser Ed Gillespie, for instance, has rising responsibility for the campaign’s broad message. Campaign manager Matt Rhoades is commanding the stagecraft, the insiders said. And Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), originally brought in as Romney’s debate sparring partner, has become a close and trusted adviser. But the biggest change in the ecology, according to the insiders, is the more assertive role of Tagg Romney, who has been “making sure that his father’s environment is such that he’s relaxed when he goes up to do things, and making sure that he’s not over-programmed, and is protected from the cacophony of advice,” a family friend said. “Romney gets buffeted by all this advice because Romney takes everybody seriously,” the family friend said. “He thinks, ‘Well, gee, I’m talking to businessman X or C or Y. They’re really smart. That’s something I need to factor into my thinking.’ Tagg has been aggressive in saying: ‘There’s no more factoring stuff in. Your thinking is yours. Be who you are! And you’ve got to communicate that to people, and don’t be embarrassed by it.’” Read more: politico.com