Was This Smackdown A Little Too Early?

[Drunken Irishman]

15. No. Romney is still an unknown. The summer months go along way toward defining the challenger...

If you wait until October, you run the risk of Romney defining himself and getting out in front of a story that breaks and has little impact because Americans have already made up their opinions about him. It's why, in '00, the Bush DUI story didn't do that much damage. It broke RIGHT before the election, but by that point, Americans had already decided if they liked him or not - they knew he made mistakes and those who were willing to forgive him weren't going to change on that DUI story and those who were already against him just had their views reinforced.

You spend the summer months defining your challenger so that when October rolls around, he can't get away from the image you've created.

In '04, the Bush campaign spent the entire summer tearing down Kerry's service and presenting him as a flip-flopper. By the time fall rolled around, that image had cemented.

In '96, the Clinton campaign spent the entire summer defining Dole as an out-of-touch insider whose ideas were just too old for the presidency. By the time October rolled around, Dole's age, and his ties to Gingrich, were what he was most known for - not his record as senator.

In '88, the Bush campaign spent the entire summer throwing Willie Horton around and by October, Dukakis was seen as a typical soft on crime liberal.

Don't give your challenger time to shape his own image. If he does that, then your attacks later in the game won't mean a lick. Romney started this race with his business record being an asset. Spend these next couple months making it a liability. In October, after months of hearing Bain stories and tax return stories, he will be known as a corporate raider who outsourced jobs and ruined towns.

But that won't happen if you hold off until October.