Obama’s Lack Of Vision Opens Door For Romney

President Obama’s “major” economic speech offered no new ideas and no plan for his second term. He seems to believe that he can blame Bush for the economy and therefore not be held responsible for not fixing it and/or making it worse during his 3 and a half years in office. Obama blames all his problems on Washington gridlock, as though he’s somehow not part of the gridlock. The result of Obama’s finger pointing and no second term plan is that in the Real Clear Politics average, he’s only up on Romney by 0.8%. Obama has 45.7% to Romney’s 44.9%. Romney has a very clear opening to exploit.

The shift in polls isn’t so much toward Romney as it is away from Obama. There is a group of independent voters who may have at one time leaned towards Obama but now aren’t so sure. They’re willing to give Romney a shot. It’s now up to Romney to convince them that he is capable and has a plan for the future. He must lay out his plan in a clear and concise manner and he must contrast his plan to the last four years under Obama. In two months he’ll have a very high profile opportunity to address the nation at the Republican Convention. Obviously we all know the debates will be important.

Romney must provide a simple economic plan based on the free market that focuses on lower taxes and fewer regulations. He must make the case that Obama’s upcoming taxmageddon, which will hit on January 1st and won’t be repealed if Obama is re-elected, will hurt the economy. Middle class taxes will rise, perhaps as much as $1700 for a family earning around $50,000. Capital gains taxes would rise 66%, taxes on dividends would nearly triple and the death tax would rise by 50%. Romney needs to drive this point home, Obama hasn’t even attempted to negotiate a deal with Republicans on the Bush tax cuts. Romney needs to make the case that under his administration he would keep the Bush tax cuts, that they’re good for the middle class and the country and he needs to make the case that they should be permanent so we don’t have tax uncertainty.

Romney also needs to come up with a heathcare plan. Repealing Obamacare, if it’s still law come the end of the month much less next January, isn’t enough of a plan to win the White House. Romney must propose free market reforms such as allowing the purchase of insurance over state lines and allowing small businesses to pool their risk. Romney has talked about this over the past week or so but he needs to but forth a comprehensive plan that’s simple to understand. Most importantly, he needs to promise that his bill won’t be 2,000 pages and it won’t be Romneycare.

The American people are turning from Obama. They haven’t yet turned to Romney. It’s up to him to seal the deal and prove to the American public that he’s someone worth voting for. He absolutely cannot rely on people coming out to the polls just to vote against Obama. The American people generally want someone they can vote for, in the very least we prefer this than going to the polls to vote against someone. Romney’s opening is there, the question is whether or not he can take advantage of it. This is still a 60-40 race favoring Obama. But with a few good proposals and a terrific convention speech, Romney can shrink it to 50-50 by the end of the summer. No opponent can hope for a better position heading into the fall against an incumbent. We’ll have to wait and see whether Romney can seize this moment