Un nuevo Mitt Romney

Presenta una imagen más informal que en 2008, y una estrategia más sutil.

Lo cuenta Los Angeles Times:

(...) Defying his reputation as a 1950s square, the new, more casual Mitt Romney is popping up around the country as he readies a second run for president. He's going tieless on network TV, strolling NASCAR pits in Daytona and sporting skinny Gap jeans bought for him by his wife.

His latest campaign book, just out in paperback, opens with a regular-guy scene: wealthy Mitt in a Wal-Mart checkout line, buying gifts for his grandsons and comparing the surroundings to Target, another discount store he says he's familiar with.

The image tweaks are part of a broader makeover as Romney prepares to run from what should be an enviable spot: He's the early Republican favorite — though far from an inevitable nominee.

(...) One of his biggest problems is "a suspicion that he is not as authentic as voters would like and he doesn't connect as well with voters as they would like," said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster not aligned with any candidate. "Politicians who are viewed as authentic have a much easier time connecting with the voters they are wooing. People like Ronald Reagan and [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie seem to have no trouble connecting, in part because they seem so comfortable in their skin."

The problem has been fed by the fact that, in each of his runs for public office, Romney has remade himself. Last time out, he shed his moderate social views on abortion and gay rights, then struggled to convince primary voters of his conservative bona fides. A perception grew that the handsome candidate, with his almost-too-perfect hair and teeth and seemingly scripted answers to every question, would say anything to get elected.

(...) In 2008, he had "no overarching theme to answer the question, 'Why should I vote for Mitt Romney?'" said an advisor, requesting anonymity to discuss his candidate's prospects candidly. Romney's campaign book, "No Apology: Believe in America," attempts to frame an answer around a theme of national greatness.

(...) His moves so far have been aimed at correcting a flaw from 2008: peaking before it mattered. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, he built — and lost — early leads. "The one thing I learned from the last campaign I ran is that we got in too early," he told Hugh Hewitt, among the conservative radio hosts he has cultivated.

(...) Romney, who turns 64 this month, has streamlined his campaign organization, by reducing the number of voices in the inner circle and shifting his longtime aide and 2008 campaign manager, Beth Myers, out of an operational role. He isn't planning to spend his personal fortune the same way he did last time, when he seeded his candidacy with more than $42 million of his own money. But with a net worth of at least $190 million, he can always dip into his own pocket.

As for doubts about authenticity, Romney is counting on the electorate being less concerned with past inconsistencies than in picking a candidate who can turn the economy around. Brushing aside a question from CNN's Morgan about his tendency to flip-flop, Romney said, "People in America want to know who can get 15 million people back to work." (...)