Romney on offense in Denver

Washington Post:

Blocks away from the Democratic convention site, Republicans yesterday waged an aggressive "Not Ready '08" counteroffensive led by Mitt Romney, a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain who was trying out the attack-dog role.

Romney ripped into Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, who was chosen in part because of his lengthy foreign policy résumé. "His record being wrong on foreign policy is as long as his years in foreign policy," Romney asserted, ticking off examples such as Biden's opposition to the troop buildup in Iraq and to the Cold War arms increase under President Reagan.

Romney touted his former GOP primary rival as a "true-blooded American hero" who is addressing "real issues," while Obama is "talking about bromides of such a generic nature that we don't know where he'd actually lead." Romney even conducted a television interview from inside the Pepsi Center as Democratic delegates gathered for a second-day program focused on domestic issues and featuring a prime-time speech by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Republican National Committee set up its own Denver headquarters in an office building near downtown. They run a rapid response operation there and even printed their own slick, official-looking mock credentials and signs under the "Not Ready '08" slogan, featuring Obama's image and the tagline, "A mile high, an inch deep."

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Romney held back-to-back events that drew overflow crowds of reporters, and he unleashed a stream of harsh critiques about the Democratic team. Gone were all signs of his strained relationship with McCain during their GOP primary battle. "Every effort to try and portray John McCain as someone that doesn't connect with the American people will fall extraordinarily short -- just as short as the effort to say he's the continuation of George W. Bush," Romney said. "The American people recognize that's total baloney."

He issued a challenge on national security, saying that Obama has ignored "what Republicans consider to be the greatest threat of the civilized world," which he described as "radical, violent, Islamic jihadism."

Romney also dropped a reference to William Ayers, who Obama has socialized with in Chicago and who was a founding member of the Weather Underground, a radical 1960s group. He also cited Obama's relationship with Chicago developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted on corruption charges, although the case had nothing to do with Obama.

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I just watched Romney on Hannity and Colmes and he gave a powerful performance saying many of the same things he said at the news events in this report. I don't know if McCain would pick him, but I think he would do a good job in the coming race. He could make the difference in Michigan where he is very popular. He would also beef up the ticket on the business economic side.

Some have argued that his wealth would be held against him, but I don't think class envy politics is a winning formula. When asked how many homes he owns, he said one less than John Kerry. The big difference is that Romney earned his wealth.