Romney Should be Hitting Back Harder on Bain

While I have made no secret of my feeling that Mitt Romney should feel no shame in having started a private equity firm, it is also true that the Obama campaign has done a tremendous job convincing the American public that the opposite is true. Late last week, Mitt Romney made an initial attempt at countering this strategy with an Op-Ed in the Wall St. Journal.

However, and perhaps in response to another serious criticism of him - that he is too stiff - his riposte comes off as a bit too folksy and soft. For someone trying to run a campaign on the economy, he should be hitting back harder on his economic chops. He needs to address layoffs and outsourcing and buying and selling companies head on. Some won't like to hear about such things, but those people also won't fawn over a candidate just because he drops back to school anecdotes in a piece that is supposed to focus on his record.

Instead of trying to be personable (something that makes him seem even more stiff in some ways), Romney should be addressing his business record head on, explaining why his business was run the way it was, and generate enthusiasm among those whom he will depend on for votes this November. Otherwise he is just playing into the well-oiled Obama Campaign Machine's hands.