Mitt Romney tells GOP: Stop getting distracted, focus on economy
CANTON, Ohio – Mitt Romney, with signs that he has momentum heading into the 10-state Super Tuesday sweepstakes, had a blunt message for his party this morning: stop getting distracted, it’s time to focus on the economy.
He never mentioned his chief rival Rick Santorum by name, but the comments seemed aimed at the former Pennsylvania senator who has not shied from talking about issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and religion.
Romney’s comments also came amid controversy over contraception coverage, and disparaging comments made conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh made about a Georgetown law student.
“I actually spent my life, my career, in the private sector, working in business,’’ Romney said here, at a steel factory in eastern Ohio. “We used to have, we used to joke, three rules for turning around an enterprise in trouble. And the rules were these: focus, focus, and focus. Focus your energy on those things that are most important.’’
It seemed to be a prescription for his own campaign. For a brief period, Romney sought to brand himself as “severely conservative,’’ and promoted his positions on social issues.
“I look at this campaign right now and I see a lot of folks all talking about lots of things,’’ he said this morning. “But what we need to talk about to defeat Barack Obama is getting good jobs and scaling back the size of government – and that’s what I do. What I know is the economy.’’
As if the point weren’t made clearly enough, Romney returned to the theme several minutes later.
“During this campaign, there’s been discussion about all sorts of issues,’’ he said. “But I keep bringing it back to more jobs, less debt, and smaller government. That’s what my campaign is about. That’s why I believe we’re doing well at this stage. Gosh, we just won our fifth state in a row with Washington state.’’
Romney, who is battling a cold, seems to be well positioned heading into Tuesday’s contests, when more than 400 delegates are at stake across the country. Romney aides are predicting that he’ll win a majority of delegates, and they claim the party is starting to rally behind him.
“The party has already begun to coalesce behind Mitt Romney,’’ Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser, said this morning. “He’s not like other candidates who get distracted by non-economic issues. He stays focused on the economy, and I think that, more than anything else, explains why he’s surging.’’
Romney was endorsed Sunday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Senator Tom Coburn – two conservative leaders who could help Romney begin to rally those within the party who distrust him most. He was also endorsed this morning by former Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Senator John McCain, a top Romney surrogate, also said this morning that if Romney wins both Ohio and Tennessee – which is a possibility, according to some polls – the nomination fight would effectively be over.
“I hope that at that point most of us would declare or believe it’s over and start focusing on the real adversary,’’ McCain said on “CBS This Morning.’’ “That, of course, is winning the November election.’’
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