Romney’s risky campaign focus

There’s a belief among the strategists surrounding Mitt Romney that his campaign should focus almost exclusively on the state of America’s economy. It’s an obvious battleground with unemployment figures hovering around 8 per cent, a sorely depressed manufacturing sector, and soaring petrol price.

Sacrificed to this belief are a broader spectrum of policies. Throughout his entire campaign, for example, Romney has given just one major foreign policy speech. The single-issue approach adopted by Romney’s team – essentially turning the election into a referendum on Obama’s handling of the economy – is a risky strategy, and one the campaign is not playing as best it could.

Romney was heckled the other day when addressing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People after vowing to ‘kill’ Obamacare. This might be a touchstone issue for dyed-in-the-wool Republicans, but it won’t pay dividends for Romney as he reaches out to Black and Hispanic voters.