Perhaps Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign wasn't meaningless after all. During the Florida primary, I tracked Gingrich and his ludicrous proposals to overhaul the entire federal government so quickly upon taking office that he would barely have time to change into a tux for the inauguration parties. His extensive list of promises for day one was absurd, yet it seems to have influenced Mitt Romney. Romney's first general-election ad was titled "Day One," and now the Republican nominee revisits the same idea in a new ad, unimaginatively called "Day One, Part Two."
Between these two ads, Romney has promised a first day that will include:
- Immediate approval to construct the Keystone Pipeline
- Executive orders to halt the implementation of the Affordable Care Act
- The introduction of tax cuts for "job creators"
- Deficit reduction
- "Ending the Obama era of big government" (this one is left up to the viewer's interpretation)
- Threatening China on trade to "demand they play by the rules"
- A repeal of "job-killing regulations"
Romney's day-one schedule is only less absurd than Gingrich's because it lacks specificity. Gingrich-befitting his self-image as the Republicans' great thinker-was willing to attach specific language and numbers to his goals, such as the claim that "by the end of that first day-about the time that President Obama arrives back in Chicago-we will have dismantled about 40 percent of his government." Romney, on the other hand, sticks to vague platitudes. It's the same approach he has applied to his economic and health-care proposals: Romney has laid out a broad overarching vision without diving into the nitty-gritty of crafting policy. That blank slate has allowed Romney to make a host of general pledges without providing the details that would allow observers to weigh whether he's capable of achieving them.
