The Republican primaries left Romney wounded with key voter blocs, namely women and Hispanics. Rick Santorum’s focus on social issues – including disparaging comments about birth control – pushed Romney off-message and away from his strong suit, the economy.
When he said he wanted to “get rid of Planned Parenthood,” he kicked a hornets’ nest of women who view the organization favorably and aren’t concerned that some clinics provide abortions (with separate funding). He said he meant he wanted to get rid of federal funding for Planned Parenthood, not shut down the entire organization, but the damage was done.
With Hispanic voters, Romney has done himself some damage by taking a hard-line position on immigration reform. Since becoming a presidential candidate in 2007, he has dropped his support for comprehensive reform, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Now he’s trying to inch back a little toward the center by saying he would sign a version of the DREAM Act to help young illegal immigrants, if it’s linked only to military service.
But for now Romney trails Obama among Hispanic voters by a whopping 40 points, according to a Pew Research Center poll released in April. Republicans say he needs to get to at least 40 percent of the Hispanic vote to win the election.
One weakness Obama has with Hispanics that Romney can exploit is a high deportation rate. It’s not that Romney favors allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the country, but any discouragement among Hispanics with Obama creates an opening for Romney.
With all voters, the economy is ultimately the most important issue. And if unemployment begins to creep up and gas prices stay high or get higher, Romney will certainly build support among women and Hispanics. But if conditions stay where they are now (unemployment at 8.2 percent, gas around $4 a gallon) Romney will need some other avenue to get women and Hispanics to turn to him.
