The Daily Orange political columnists focus on keys to success for either Obama, Romney as New York primary draws near

To win in November, Mitt Romney doesn’t have to be the best candidate and doesn’t need the crusading outsider narrative of the 2008 Obama campaign.

Romney needs to be the superior alternative to a struggling leader.

The Obama campaign will be limited, and the Romney campaign will be assisted, by certain natural phenomena of an incumbency campaign. The dogma of ‘hope and change’ isn’t as appealing or exploitable after four years of governance.

In the 2008 election cycle, pundit Ann Coulter downplayed the unique nature of Obama’s campaign platform and pointed out that every candidate runs on the hope and change platform as opposed to gloom and the status quo. Though Obama won’t admit it, there’s little doubt the platform he’s running on is the latter. For Americans who can’t find jobs or have lost their homes, it’s hard to see how this will resonate or inspire.

Romney needs to help himself by focusing on Obama’s tenure and making him defend unpopular decisions like his healthcare policy, stimulus package and record debt accumulation. On handling the nation’s debt, Romney’s poll numbers are the most favorable when contrasted to Obama’s. Romney needs to show his superiority as an executive in the private and public sectors.

Though Romney’s not the best candidate or the preferred candidate for some, he has a path to victory if he can contrast himself with President Obama and his unpopular policy decisions.

Patrick Mocete is a senior political science and policy studies major. His regular column appears every Thursday. He can be reached at pdmocete@syr.edu.

Published on April 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm