What does Obama want to accomplish in next presidential debate?
How is President Obama approaching his second debate with GOP rival Mitt Romney? He鈥檚 got to try to perform differently than he did in their first clash in Denver, after all. That was widely judged a walk-over for Mr. Romney. At times, Mr. Obama was so reserved it seemed as if he didn鈥檛 even want to be there.
Lots of his supporters are calling on the president to be more aggressive in confronting Romney, but 鈥渁ggressive鈥� isn鈥檛 a word his advisers are using to describe what they believe will be Obama鈥檚 style in Tuesday鈥檚 meeting at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York.
After all, the president could appear desperate and unappealingly angry if he just lunges at Romney, rhetorically speaking. Plus, the debate will feature a town-meeting format, which doesn鈥檛 lend itself to mano a mano confrontation.
The word Obama advisers are throwing about is 鈥渆nergetic.鈥� They鈥檙e promising that, if nothing else, the president won鈥檛 repeat a Denver performance that seemed laid-back at best and somnolent at worst.
鈥淗e has to be more energetic,鈥� said senior adviser to the president Robert Gibbs on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥� on Sunday.
Yes, but energy without direction is just sparks. What鈥檚 Obama going to try to accomplish with his amped-up vigor?
Most likely he鈥檚 going to direct that to an attempt to portray his rival as the 鈥渟evere conservative鈥� that Romney once said he was. That will probably translate into a strategy that takes specific Romney policies and tries to frame them as stuff independent and swing voters might find unappealing.
In Denver, 鈥渨e saw Governor Romney sort of serially walk away from his own proposals, and certainly the president is going to be willing to challenge him on it,鈥� said senior adviser to the president David Axelrod on 鈥�Fox News 厂耻苍诲补测.鈥�
In practice that means you鈥檒l likely hear the pair wrangle again over whether Romney鈥檚 tax plan is a $5 trillion tax cut tilted to the rich. A new Jim Messina lays out 14 questions that Romney might face from the incumbent in the debate, and the first three all focus on tax specifics.
Question No. 3, for instance, is 鈥淪o how can you claim your tax cuts won鈥檛 result in more taxes for the middle class?鈥� Whether an attendee at the meeting will actually question Romney that way remains to be seen; if someone does, we bet Romney鈥檚 answer will be the same as it was the first time around. He鈥檒l just state that he won鈥檛 raise middle-class taxes, and that his tax plan is overall tax reform that won鈥檛 cost the Treasury any revenue because it will be accompanied by elimination of unspecified loopholes and deductions.
Other subjects Obama may try to raise include abortion, an issue Obama aides believe Romney has danced around, and Romney鈥檚 record as governor of Massachusetts. According to the Messina memo, Obama is likely to try to portray Romney鈥檚 Bay State tenure as an example of partisan strife.
Back then, Romney鈥檚 aides 鈥渆ven erected a velvet rope and cordoned off an elevator in the capitol for his personal use,鈥� claims the memo.
As for Romney, his strategy may well run to smiling and appearing affable while parrying Obama鈥檚 jabs. The town-hall-meeting format, in which actual voters are supposed to drive the discussion, may make his job easier. Plus 鈥� unlike Obama in the first debate 鈥� Romney knows where his opponent is headed. He鈥檒l be prepared to defend himself against the 鈥渟evere conservative鈥� charge.
Romney 鈥渋s running on the same platform he has run on through the Republican Party primary,鈥� senior adviser Ed Gillespie told reporter and debate moderator Candy Crowley Sunday on CNN. 鈥淭he country is a center-right country. They want to have less federal spending. They want to get us on a path to a balanced budget. They want a free-enterprise-driven economy that fosters job creation, not a government-centered economy that fosters economic stagnation.鈥�
