Romney and His Gang: “They’re Comfortable.”

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In the mostly empty Tampa Bay Times Forum this morning, media professionals, politicos of D and R designations, and pundits are milling about, as the world waits breathlessly for the GOP convention to begin tomorrow. While strolling through the arena, I ran into a top Republican who has not been so keen on Mitt Romney and his campaign tactics over the past year. He believes the Romney campaign has failed to engage voters in a fundamental fashion—regarding either Romney’s biography or policy beliefs.

Do you expect anything major to change on the Romney side? I asked.

“No,” he said, a tone of sadness in his voice. “I talk to people in the campaign and they tell me they’re comfortable where they are now.”

Really? I followed up. Given the lousy economy and the polls showing doom-and-gloom among the electorate, shouldn’t Romney be ten points ahead of the guy in the White House?

“Yes, but they think they’re in a good spot. And when you feel comfortable, you don’t change things.”

He rolled his eyes and added, “At least the weather is getting better.”

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It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

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We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

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