海角大神

Mitt Romney, man of action.

That鈥檚 the message of his briskly paced of the general election campaign, called 鈥淒ay One.鈥� In just 30 seconds, we learn everything the presumed Republican presidential nominee would do on his first day in the Oval Office: Approve the job-creating Keystone Pipeline project, cut and reform taxes, and replace 鈥�Obamacare鈥� with 鈥渃ommon-sense health-care reform.鈥�

Congressional approval? No mention of that, though a campaign ad isn鈥檛 a civics lessons. This is about conveying a sense to voters that Mr. Romney will roll up his sleeves and get to work just as soon as he鈥檚 said 鈥渟o help me God.鈥� The details don鈥檛 matter.

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According to the Associated Press, the Romney campaign is spending $1.3 million to air the ad in Iowa, North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio, all battleground states. The campaign also produced a Spanish-language version.

Team Romney鈥檚 decision to focus its debut general-election ad on the candidate鈥檚 Day 1 agenda and not on his personal narrative is telling.聽Usually candidates begin with a positive message about themselves, and Romney is facing a wide likability gap with the president. With President Obama and Vice President Biden slamming Romney for his years as a venture capitalist at Bain Capital, Romney could have started the process with a bit of personal narrative.

The 鈥渄og on car鈥� story is getting old, and the Washington Post鈥檚 deep dive into his high school years 鈥� including a story about him bullying a fellow student 鈥� has provided a window into Romney鈥檚 elite upbringing. But there just isn鈥檛 much else out there about Romney the person. Now, analysts suggest, what he needs to do is fill in his biography and let voters know what he鈥檚 really all about. 聽

鈥淭he decisions presidents must make are often not just about policy or even political calculations,鈥� writes of US News & World Report. 鈥淪ome of them come straight from the gut (such as, do I send in the Navy SEALs to attempt to take out Osama bin Laden?). Some of them are rooted more in a person's own value system and character. It's a big job with a lot of responsibility and power. We can't help wanting to know who these candidates are, and what makes them tick.鈥�

To be sure, there鈥檚 plenty of time for Romney to tell us who he is. The campaign is just starting. But for now, he鈥檚 telling us what he wants to do.

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