A common tactic in modern presidential politics is to attack an opponents strength and turn it into a liability. The preeminent example of this was the swiftboating of John Kerry. There are of course other examples. Paul Lying Ryan's speech was an attempt to turn President Obama's great accomplishment of saving the American auto industry into a liability. Whining about Obama taking "too much credit" for the killing of Osama bin Laden was another. Even the somewhat bizarre right-wing telepromter meme is an attempt to blunt Obama's obvious oratory skills. On the flip side the value of speaking about Bain Capital has been greatly eroded thanks to the Obama camps vulture capitalist attacks.
So as we bask in the afterglow of the circus that was the RNC how can we make use of this? By attacking Mitts core brand: Competence.
Competence is really the core of what the Romney camp is trying to sell the American people. "Look Obama is a nice guy but he's not up to the job." They are saying, "Here's Romney. He made 1/4 of a billion bucks because he's competent. He 'saved' the olympics because he's competent. He was a business man so he's competent."
What progressives should be asking their at the watercooler, on TV, on the intertubes, is this:
If Romney can't even run his own convention how can he run the country?
It's a simple message. Easy to understand. Bumper sticker stuff, and it goes to the heart of the Romney brand.
Just look at the Eastwood nonsense. Look at how Ryan could say two words without one being a lie. Look at the racist crap said to the CNN camera woman. Look at the Ron Paul supporters who were shut out and pissed off.
The front page tweet of the day is in the same vein.
If Team Romney can't even handle Clint Eastwood, how can it handle Putin, Assad, and Ahmadinejad? @politicoroger via web
— @politicoroger via web
We can also point to the disastrous foreign policy trip.
If Romney can't even handle a photo-op with a foreign leader without insulting someone how can he handle being the leader of the free world?
The guy knows how to run a vulture capitalist fund. But the country is not a vulture capitalist firm. He's not competent to run the country.
Point to the easy stuff he's screwed up and put doubt in the minds of independents as to if he's even competent for the job. Attack his core brand.