◼ The governors want their presidential contenders to cut the social issues talk and get back to basics.
“When I’m talking to people in Virginia … about what bothers them and their children and grandchildren, it’s, ‘How am I going to get the cost of college education down?’” said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has endorsed Mitt Romney and is often mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick. “How am I going to get Johnny out of debt before he goes out into the world? Is Johnny going to get a job when they graduate or are we still going to have this horrible job environment? Is Johnny going to be saddled with $50,000 in national debt because we can’t pay it off in this current generation.
“I mean, that’s what families are talking about,” he added. “They’re not as much talking about these other issues.”
...Most of Republican governors were reluctant to rebuke their presidential trail compatriots directly about their wavering focus, but they made it clear it’s not how they would attack Obama. When asked how they would prepare to go up against him in November, their answers dealt exclusively with fiscal matters.
“We know, you just can’t increase national debt $1.3 trillion year after year after year,” said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. “He has no plan to really bring federal spending under control. And I think it should be beneath the president of the United States to spend time attacking the very people we need creating jobs. The banks, the entrepreneurs, the people we need to invest and create jobs.”
Who is responsible for the shift in discussion from economic to social issues is a matter of debate among the governors;many of them blame the media for focusing on cultural topics and dragging the candidates along with them. “I’m concerned about people that asking about them in the debates,” said McDonnell. “The press are asking more about social issues.”
