By Hilary Rosen, Special to CNN
updated 9:16 PM EDT, Sat September 29, 2012
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Hilary Rosen: It seems everyone else is getting credit for Obama being in the lead
- Rosen: In fact, Obama's strategy is to show election as a choice between two directions
- She says in the debate, Obama should frame every answer as a choice, not a defense
- Rosen: Romney will try to annoy Obama, the president should stay nice
Editor's note: Hilary Rosen, a CNN contributor, is a Democratic political strategist and former chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America.
(CNN) -- Have you noticed lately that everyone else is getting credit for the president being in the lead except President Obama?
It was the cohesive Democratic message at the convention. It was President Clinton bringing it home. It was GOP challenger Mitt Romney being tone deaf about 47% of the American people. In short, according to the pundits, it has been everything but the president himself that's responsible for the momentum that his re-election has now.
In fact, it's been the fundamental strategy of the president and his campaign that has allowed these other issues to resonate so loudly with the American people. When the president successfully shifted this election as a choice between two leaders and two directions rather than a referendum on him and the state of the economy, everything else fell into a complementary narrative.
Hilary Rosen
Yes, there was a good story to tell about the accomplishments of the last four years, but America needed to see the bigger picture.
So now when we learn Romney's tax rate hovers at 14%, or when he picks Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who wanted to kill Medicare as we know it, as his running mate, or when he can't decide if his Massachusetts health care plan is an example of his compassion or a noose around Obamacare, he falls into the trap of comparison every time. He may not have wanted those things to define his candidacy, but Obama is successfully making America realize that if we reject him, we would be choosing Romney.
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So that is my first piece of advice for Obama in the first debate. Frame virtually every answer as a choice, not a defense. Romney is smart and a skilled debater, and he will try to stay vague and put the president on the defensive early. Obama must resist the temptation to lash back only with a spirited defense. Every issue presents a choice for the American people. And on an issue-by-issue basis, the people are mostly with the president.
My second piece of advice is for the president to share his best self as emblematic of what is best in America. Romney says that he only wants everyone to focus on jobs. But life isn't that simple or binary.
If moms are worried about paying for their reproductive health care or whether their rights are respected, it is hard to concentrate only on the economy. If immigrants are worried about being discriminated against or their families deported, it adds to the stress of their economic life. If gays and lesbians can't have their families recognized, it makes their search for meaningful work more complicated as they cobble benefits together. If college students are worrying about the stress of their student loans rather than studying as hard as they can, their chances of pulling themselves up are more limited.
In short, America succeeds when all of its people are valued, and we are all pulling in the same direction rather than refighting old fights or letting social issues divide us. That is not the world that Romney inhabits, but it is the reality for most Americans. Don't be afraid to talk about it.
Romney has everything at stake in this first debate. His campaign team and surrogates can't stop talking about it, in fact. The pressure will be great on him to perform. Therefore he is certain to say things that annoy the president.
Opinion: Why debates don't always make a difference
So my final piece of advice is most simple: Stay nice. No "you're likable enough" comments; no jokes about dogs on top of the car; no snarking about how rich Romney is; no patronizing lecturing when he has his facts wrong. Just stay nice.
One of the greatest gifts America has is a president who is kind and warm with a big smile and compassionate heart. That is the president who will win the first debate.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Hilary Rosen.
Part of complete coverage on
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"Wicked" writer Gregory Maguire says it takes moxie for the Harry Potter author to turn from the audience that brought her fame years ago and meet them again as adults
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Vince Warren says the Supreme Court's ruling on an upcoming case could decide whether the U.S. will continue to be a leader in protecting univeral human rights
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Alex Castellanos says the candidate is drawing crowds of enthusiastic supporters but he already has their vote
updated 10:23 AM EDT, Thu September 27, 2012
Josh Freedman says America's policies to support workers and families are worse than any other country in the developed world.
updated 2:34 PM EDT, Thu September 27, 2012
William Bennett says President Obama's record on the economy and his broken promises are just two reasons not to give him a second term.
updated 12:17 PM EDT, Thu September 27, 2012
Rebecca Rimel and Dale Hall say we can meet both energy and wildlife protection needs with a plan that opens half the Alaska petroleum reserve to oil and gas leasing
updated 8:45 AM EDT, Fri September 28, 2012
John Avlon says they may insist the election is about the economy, but conservatives have repeatedly focussed on such issues as abortion, gay marriage far more than on the deficit and debt
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/29/opinion/rosen-obama-debate/index.html?eref=rss_latest
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