Romney's latest campaign strategy: Talk policy

WASHINGTON -- Republican candidate Mitt Romney seems to have gotten the message from GOP critics.

The party's presidential nominee plans to spend more time talking about his policy proposals in the coming weeks, a tacit acknowledgment that it will take more than criticizing President Barack Obama on the economy to win in November. By doing so, he's heeding the advice of Republicans who have been pushing him to fill in the gaps for voters still trying to understand what a Romney presidency would look like as polls show the president ahead nationally and in key states.

But don't expect new proposals or any additional details about Romney's plans. He's mostly repackaging previously announced positions as he grapples for a way to gain traction before next month's debates. Romney aides, meanwhile, are working behind the scenes to calm dissension in the GOP ranks and reassure nervous donors and consultants about the state of a race some Republicans worry may be getting away from their nominee.

Some conservative writers have complained for months that Romney needs to put more details behind his pledges to tame the deficit while also preserving all tax cuts and expanding military spending.

Others say Romney mishandled a chance to criticize Obama's foreign policy last week when the Republican nominee issued sharp remarks in the opening hours of fast-changing and complicated episodes of violence aimed at American facilities in the Middle East.

On Sunday, Politico reported significant tension and disarray in the Romney campaign. Particularly chaotic, according to the account, were efforts to draft Romney's acceptance speech at the Tampa, Fla., convention. The speech drew lackluster reviews in general, and rebukes from some for making no mention of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Our campaign is doing well," Romney insisted yesterday in a Telemundo interview, hours after his advisers held a conference call to outline the path ahead. He dismissed the notion that his campaign was in trouble and brushed aside reports of staff infighting.

His effort to emphasize his proposals began yesterday with a pair of new TV ads focused on "The Romney Plan."

Advisers say Romney is working to convince voters that he is running on a serious plan to change the country.

"We're not rolling out new policies . . . so much as we are making sure people understand when we say we can do these things, here's how we're going to get them done and these are the specifics," Ed Gillespie, a top Romney strategist, told reporters.