NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is moving his campaign away from economic issues, a senior adviser said Monday.
The GOP campaign appears to be shifting course as it abandons its hope of making the election a referendum on President Obama's jobs record, The New York Times noted Monday, adding Romney intends to make energy policy, healthcare, taxes and foreign policy integral parts of his campaign heading toward Election Day, topics previously marginalized by the concentration on employment statistics.
Democrats prefer a "choice" election, the newspaper said, in which the personalities and policies of each candidate can be compared. The new strategy of the Romney camp can be regarded as moving the election campaign to Obama's preferred ground, the newspaper said.
Speaking Monday to reporters, Ed Gillespie, senior adviser to the Romney campaign, said the candidate's comments are a way to concentrate the campaign on issues other than the domestic economy.
"The message is we cannot afford four more years like the last four years. We know this resonates with voters," Gillespie said.
Attempting to broaden his message, Romney recommended in an opinion piece published Sunday in The Wall Street Journal that a new show of American strength and influence is needed in the Middle East. He counseled a restoration of what he called "the three sinews of our influence: our economic strength, our military strength and the strength of our values. That will require a very different set of policies from those President Obama is pursuing."
