Romney adviser Ed Gillespie held another conference call with reporters this morning.
“We need a real recovery,” Gillespie began. “As Congressman Ryan has said, this is not what a real recovery looks like. We need a real recovery, one that generates 12 million new jobs, unleashes American energy and opens new markets for our goods and services, and gives people opportunity. We’re going to emphasize this clear choice and the sharp contrast between the two visions going forward. Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan are going to emphasize all of that this week, talking about the benefits of the Romney-Ryan plan for a stronger middle class and addressing the costs of Obama’s failed policies. The American people see those costs every day in the joblessness, the increased poverty, the skyrocketing federal debt, the higher prices, the lower household incomes that cause them to live paycheck to paycheck, and falling home prices.”
“This message emphasis this week will be on that big choice before the American people, between a dynamic growth economy or a stagnant economy that fosters government dependence. We believe that as we head into debate season, and Americans will begin seeing these two candidates side by side for the first time, we think that this emphasis on this stark choice will be critical to how they decide to vote in November.”
Romney and Ryan will be on a bus tour through Ohio this week.
I asked about Romney’s schedule – last week Byron York noticed that most days the GOP nominee was doing only one public event per day most days.
“He has been doing a lot of events per day, but a lot of them are fundraising events,” Gillespie said. “Governor Romney is the first Republican nominee for president to run outside the public finance system, to not take the public money. Obviously, we have to complete with a very well-funded Obama machine on the other side. That does mean that you end up having to do events that are sometimes outside the target states — I don’t think anyone considers Utah to be on the target state list – but it was an important event for us, to be able have the resources to be competitive with the advertising and expenditures necessary, to be competitive with the Obama campaign in those target states.”
“We’re going to reach a point here, hopefully soon, where we’ll have the resources we need to carry us through November 6, and we won’t need to do those finance events. Those also entail travel, getting to those events, and we’ll be able to concentrate on being in target states for longer stretches of time, and able to do more political events as opposed to finance events. We’re all looking forward to that moment in time.”