What Romney must do tonight

The consensus is that Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney must win tonight’s debate with President Barack Obama to revive his campaign hopes, and that his only path to victory is to connect with voters.
I’m not sure either is true.
First, despite Romney’s inability to catch a wave, the race is tightening, back to three-points nationwide according to this week’s Wall Street Journa/NBC News poll. That’s within the poll’s 3.4 pct. margin of error, and marks a two percentage point improvement for Romney since mid-September. It’s remarkable, given that the overwhelming narrative that Romney’s campaign has reached the desperation point. It’s even more remarkable considering that Romney has done nearly nothing to precipitate the narrowing.
This poll continues to reflect more the lack of enthusiam for Obama than it does a growing affection for Romney.
I doubt much that happens during tonight’s debate will change that dynamic, especially if Romney sees connecting to voters as his primary mission.
That’s an impossible assignment. Romney is who he is, and he’s not going to become Mr. Cool Guy in the four weeks until Election Day.
He needs to use tonight to sell his ideas, rather than himself. If you’re drowning, you don’t want someone to lean over the side of the boat and sympathize with your predicament. You want someone to jump in the water and pull you out. The promise that Romney can be that rescue man is what drew Republican voters to him during the primaries, and could do the same with the general electorate.
Romeny must concentrate on three things tonight:
First, he has to fact-check the president. A compliant media is allowing Obama to tell some outrageous whoppers on the campaign trail, without calling him out. Foremost is the claim that Romney will raise taxes by $2,000 on middle class families. That’s been called a lie by every credible fact-checking organization, and even the liberal Tax Policy Center, which fabricated the study on which the claim is based, now admits it based its conclusion on hypotheticals, and not on Romney’s actual plan.
Second, Romney has to sell his plan for reviving the economy. Obama can falsely fill in the blanks because Romney has left so much room for conjectyure. He’s got to talk about his plan to jolt the economy by making the tax code more competitive, providing relief to both business and individuals.
Yes, wealthy people such as himself will benefit. Any true and vigorous economic recovery will benefit the rich. So what? More jobs and higher take home pay will also do the rest of us plenty of good. That’s not so-called trickle-down economics. It’s a broad-based agenda for shared prosperity.
America knows the economy isn’t working — that explains why Obama, with all the advantages on his side, isn’t running away with the election. What voters want to know is how Romney intends to fix it.
Finally, Romney must heighten the urgency of the conversation about America’s future. This isn’t an ordinary election. Voters will be choosing whether to stay on the current course toward an ever more powerful government and larger debt and deficits, or to fight its way back to a free country that puts its trust in individual intiative and unfettered markets. Romeny should not be reluctant to to present the choice in those terms.
If a new direction isn’t what America wants, then he can’t win anyway, no matter how affable he appears tonight.
John Kerry made the mistake in 2004 of assuming all it would take to win the White House was to not be George W. Bush. Romney is making the same mistake this time. There are plenty of reasons to vote against Barack Obama. Romney has to give America reasons to vote for him.