U.S. Senator John Thune gave a speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention. And Thune says on Thursday night Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney did what he needed to do.
“Of course all of the pundit’s tomorrow [Friday] will be analyzing this,” Thune said. “But I think in terms of the substance, what Romney’s really got to focus on is what he’s going to do to fix the economy. That’s the issue that most people care about.”
Thune says he believes the economy is what will drive this election.
“When he’s [Romney] talking about jobs and the economy, I think he’s in a very good position to win this election. If they get distracted on other issues than it becomes more problematic,” Thune said.
When we look at the most recent CBS News poll, it’s almost dead even with President Barack Obama with 46 percent of the vote and Romney with 45 percent.
But, when it comes to the female voters and the Latino voters, Obama is ahead of Romney.
Thune says to close that gap Romney needs to be able to articulate a compelling argument telling the American people why he should replace the current President.
“I think that people realize they may like President Obama, but they look at the last three and a half years and the record and most people are going to say, ‘I’m not better off than I was four years ago,’” Thune said.
Thune says Romney needs to present a viable alternative and tell people what he’s going to do to fix the economy.
“I think it will fix that gap,” Thune said. “I think women voters, minority voters, all voters care about the economy. They care about their job and that’s going to be the issue, I think, in the end that wins or decides this election.”
Romney did have a strategy going into the convention to reach out to the female voters, Thune says that’s because he’s trying to close that gender gap.
“I think that in order to do that he’s got to be able to connect with women voters. Everybody talks about what issues do women care about and it’s probably a wide range of issues,” Thune said.
For example, Thune says women voters care about their jobs, families, the economy and a better life for their kids.
“I think that’s something that Romney can really tap into,” Thune said.
Thune says Romney should get a bounce coming out of the convention to hit the campaign hard.
But the Democrats will also have their convention next week. That could affect the momentum the Republicans got this week.
“There’s going to be a lot of back and forth,” Thune said. “What you can’t do is get bogged down on what happens one day, this day or that day. You try and win everyday but you have to remember this is a 60 to 70 day slog now and so you just have to be persistent, stay after it and stay on message.”
Thune says Romney needs to stay disciplined and he can’t afford to get distracted on other issues.
“If he’s talking about jobs and the economy, he’s got a good chance of winning,” Thune said.
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