John Baer
Philadelphia Daily News
Another week, another round of Mitt’s “We Did Build This” events.
In fact, 18 are scheduled (just on Monday) in 12 states. And all but two of these states have polls showing Romney slightly ahead, slightly behind or within reasonable striking distance.
More such events are promised later this week.
And some of the Monday events — ongoing responses to the Obama slip July 13 that if you have a business “you didn’t build that,” a reference the Obama camp claims was to roads, bridges and other services supporting all businesses — are being pumped up with high-profile GOP surrogates.
In Pennsylvania, for example, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, reportedly high on the list of possible Romney VP picks, is featured speaked at a “We Did Build This” rally in Lancaster.
In Ohio, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, another possible VP pick, headlines an event in Dayton.
And in Virginia, Newt (not a chance he’s in the VP running) Gingrich is the draw at an Arlington event.
In all three states, Obama holds leads, according to averages of the most recent polls compiled by the website Real Clear Politics: up 6 in Pa; up 5 in Ohio; up 6 in Va.
But daily tracking by Gallup puts the national race at a dead-even 46-46.
So what all “we did build it” stuff this tells us is there must be some internal Romney polling showing the “issue” resonating with voters, likely because it plays into the Romney narrative that Obama is about shared resources and Mitt’s about individual achievement.
No matter what you think of the argument, there’s an interesting opinion piece in Monday’s Daily News by a Robert Morris University economics professor.
And no matter what you think of the issue, it’s clearly not soon going away.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/growls/164252596.html