Mitt Romney embraces attack-dog role

DENVER — Mitt Romney’s mission was clear: Crash the party of the Democratic National Convention, attack Barack Obama mercilessly, and defend the message of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

But wherever Romney went Tuesday, from a downtown luncheon with several dozen reporters, to the Republican Party’s “Not Ready ‘08” news conference, he faced questions about whether his primary-campaign attacks on McCain will hurt his chances to become the vice presidential nominee. Romney’s responses, monitored by McCain’s aides, sometimes sounded like a dress rehearsal for the job.

Romney was clearly prepared for the questions, parrying with jokes and smiles whenever he was reminded of his criticism of McCain. But in at least one instance he may have overreached.

Asked how many houses he owned - in light of Democrats lampooning McCain for not being able to say last week how many he had - Romney responded, “one less than John Kerry,” holding up four fingers. At a lunch sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor, Romney said that while McCain deserved his houses because of the “hard work” of himself and his family, “Barack Obama got a special deal from a convicted felon.”

Romney was referring to Tony Rezko, a political fixer in Chicago and former Obama fund-raiser who was convicted by a federal jury in June on corruption charges. Obama bought a piece of land from Rezko’s wife to expand the yard of his $1.65 million Chicago home while Rezko was under federal investigation - a deal that Obama later said was a “bone-headed move,” given the cloud that was already surrounding his former patron.

There is no evidence, however, that the Obamas got any “special deal” engineered by Rezko. Obama was able to buy the house because of two best-selling books and the six-figure salaries he and his wife were both earning.

Romney was in Denver to provide Republican counter-programming, part of a sophisticated rapid-response operation run jointly by the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee in offices about a mile from the Democrats’ gathering.

Another Republican vice presidential prospect, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, is slated to appear here Thursday. McCain is expected to appear with his new running mate Friday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, setting the stage for next week’s GOP convention in St. Paul.

Romney spent much of the day appearing delighted at the job of designated attack dog. After making the now-common Republican charge that Obama is too inexperienced to be president, Romney seemed to take particular delight in blasting the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Senator Joe Biden. “As you stand back and look at Joe Biden, you see someone who has spent 30 years dealing with foreign policy, but has usually been wrong for 30 years,” Romney said. He cited examples of Biden’s opposition to the surge of US troops in Iraq and Biden’s proposal to have a quasi-partition of Iraq, with states of Kurds, Shi’ites, and Sunnis.

But Romney, however, may have undercut his message when he questioned whether Obama could deal with a situation such as Russia’s recent invasion of the Republic of Georgia. Romney talked about the possibility of the “Soviets” invading Poland, catching his mistake only after a reporter asked whether he was talking about the Russians.

Romney seemed well prepared, however, when asked whether he stood by the attacks he made on McCain during the primaries, including that the Arizona senator initially opposed President Bush’s tax cuts. That disproved the Democratic accusation that McCain would be a Bush clone, Romney responded.

But on another issue that the two former rivals contested during the primaries - what to do with 12 million illegal immigrants - Romney said approvingly that McCain has adopted his position. McCain had come under fierce criticism from Romney and other conservatives for his advocacy of a comprehensive reform plan - backed by Bush - that included controversial provisions such as a guest worker program for noncitizens. But McCain now says that the only politically feasible solution is to pass a border security bill first.

“At this stage, I think where Senator McCain is consistent with the position I had,” he said.

Democrats are certainly paying attention to Romney, who later Tuesday ventured into their convention arena as the guest of CNN. “It’s a bit like being in the Massachusetts Statehouse as a Republican,” Romney quipped.

Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, told reporters from battleground states on Monday that Romney “is someone who was a job-killing machine in business. He’s someone who has been proficient at using tax havens in places like the Cayman Islands that Americans have become increasingly tired of.”

“I worked very hard to help people” in Massachusetts, Romney responded Tuesday on CNN, taking credit for a bipartisan healthcare plan that has insured nearly 440,000 residents since 2006. “The truth is the first casualty of the new politics presented by the Obama campaign,” Romney added.

Asked during the luncheon whether he had talked with McCain about the vice presidency, Romney said, “That’s not a topic we’ve discussed.”

But a McCain aide who watched Romney’s performance said, “I wouldn’t read anything into” Romney’s comment.

In any case, Romney spoke warmly about a two-day visit that he made to McCain’s home in Sedona, Ariz., after the primaries were over. “We got along well,” Romney said, recalling how they bonded while McCain cooked on an outdoor grill. “I’d suggest that we are friends.”

Michael Kranish can be reached at kranish(AT)globe.com.