In supporting Mitt Romney, Gov. Sandoval may have to tweak message

By Anjeanette Damon

Sunday, June 3, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Gov. Brian Sandoval jumped into his new role this week as campaigner-in-chief for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

As Sandoval introduced Romney at a public campaign rally Tuesday in Las Vegas, he shed his characteristically affable demeanor for a more aggressive posture.

“We need somebody who is not going to spend us until we fall over a cliff,” he shouted to the cheering crowd. “We need somebody who is not going to tax us into oblivion.”

As one of the most popular politicians in one of the most critical swing states of the presidential election, Sandoval is a valuable commodity for Romney, who is running in a dead heat against President Barack Obama in Nevada.

Sandoval offered an early and personal endorsement of Texas Gov. Rick Perry but did little, if any, public campaigning for Perry before he dropped out of the race. Not so with Romney. Sandoval is expected to be a regular fixture on the campaign trail for him.

But as Sandoval wades into the presidential race, he’s stepping into a campaign message that may be difficult for him to carry.

At the moment, Romney’s key objective is convincing voters — or stoking the ire of those who are already convinced of it — that the times are so bad and the future is so bleak that they must oust Obama.

Much of Romney’s campaign speech focused on laying the economic malaise at the feet of Obama. And while Romney ended on an inspirational note of what he believes America could be, the television ads backing his candidacy are full of dire tones and grim images of the economy.

That is exactly the opposite of how Sandoval has positioned himself, both as a politician and as governor.

Sandoval’s persistent optimism, after all, has earned him the nickname “Gov. Sunny.”

What’s difficult for Romney is that Sandoval is intent on proving just the opposite of what Romney is arguing — that it is possible for Nevada’s economy to recover even under the current administration.

Sure, Sandoval can try to couch Romney’s message of economic doom and gloom.

Sandoval could point to economic progress despite the federal policies he opposes, for example. Or argue Nevada’s tepid recovery would only be accelerated with a Republican business leader in the White House.

But at the end of the day, Sandoval’s message is at odds with Romney’s.

“Yeah, there’s a bit of a tightrope there,” Republican consultant Robert Uithoven said. “But I think both of them can make the argument that the Obama administration put forward economic policies that have not helped our economic recovery.”

As Romney focuses on economic distress, he runs the risk of alienating voters who aren’t interested in dwelling on how bad things are, Uithoven said.

“They know how bad things are,” Uithoven said. “They don’t need a candidate for president saying it every day.”

Drawing the common comparison to the 1980 Reagan-Carter race, Republican strategists say Romney would do well to pivot to optimism soon.

And, depending on how Romney’s strategy shifts as the campaign progresses, perhaps that’s where Sandoval and his sunny disposition might come in handy.

Instead of talking about the cliff, Sandoval might focus on the horizon.

If Sandoval’s own political advisers have anything to say about it, that’s just how he’ll play it.

Don’t expect Sandoval to mire himself in the doom and gloom. It’s not his personality and it’s not his strategy for staying in office.

“You have to give people a place to land,” said Sandoval’s friend and adviser, Pete Ernaut. “You can’t just unsettle the sand beneath their feet.”