US: Mitt 2.0

This week, the victor in Michigan’s January 15 Republican presidential primary, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, will re-launch his campaign.

Romney has been labelled as an underperformer by the media, despite turning in much stronger overall results than his rivals for the Republican nomination in the early primary states. Therefore, the former management consultant will attempt a self-overhaul: prepare for 'Mitt 2.0'.

Romney began his race for the presidency with the two major advantages -- the most money and the soundest political strategy:

While his national name recognition was low relative to the early front-runner in 2007, Senator John McCain, Romney planned to leverage his large personal fortune to win several of the earliest primaries and develop overwhelming momentum ahead of 'Mega-Tuesday' on February 5 -- when 22 states hold primaries simultaneously.
To this end, Romney spent a great deal of his time, and a large chunk of his fortune, introducing himself to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina. Unfortunately, he tried to be all things to all people: the supposedly pragmatic businessman threatened to sink the US economy by expelling most illegal immigrants, and the alleged proponent of sound foreign policy approaches embarrassingly promised to "double Guantanamo".
Romney's vacillations turned off voters, and made him look stiff and calculating next to the folksy charm of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who beat him in Iowa. Senator John McCain's principled independence won over voters in New Hampshire -- relegating Romney to another 'silver medal' and killing his chances of early momentum. Only a win in his home state of Michigan, where his father served as governor in the 1960s, saved Romney's campaign from the dustbin.

To remain a contender, Romney must do two things: develop his own distinctive voice, and win in South Carolina on Saturday. Until the Michigan campaign, he often sounded like a Republican focus group moderator, giving prepared, party-line answers when voters approached him with their concerns. Yet in Michigan he seemed authentic, lamenting the decline of the once mighty auto industry, and promising to bring good jobs back to the state. Romney the consultant knows that the product (himself) is great, but needs a rapid re-branding.