Romney faces new attacks

Mitt Romney cruised to victory in Florida’s presidential primary Tuesday, and he’s all but certain to win Nevada’s GOP caucus Saturday. It’s still early in the process, but the Republican nomination is his to lose.

The businessman and former Massachusetts governor has been the GOP front-runner for months, and as such, he’s used to being a target for political attacks. But now, as his last remaining Republican rivals try to position their campaigns to survive to Super Tuesday on March 6, the attacks are coming from the Democratic Party as well.

President Obama fears Mr. Romney the most of all the GOP candidates. So rather than cede the spotlight to Mr. Romney in Nevada, a critical state, Mr. Obama and his proxies are trying to marginalize the Republican and stir up their base.

In a local radio ad purchased by the SEIU and a pro-Obama PAC — aired in both English and Spanish — Mr. Romney is ripped for being a “multimillionaire who pays an unfairly low tax rate” who cares nothing for “hardworking immigrants.”

A Wednesday Las Vegas Sun op-ed credited to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, former Nevada Gov. and Sen. Richard Bryan and former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller (all Democrats) slams Mr. Romney as a mean, job-killing Wall Street coddler who wants to throw people out of their homes and crush the dreams of “young, law-abiding immigrants.”

The men then try to tie Mr. Romney to George W. Bush by suggesting his plans to lift the battered economy are “the same failed ideas that created it in the first place.”

Nevada’s caucus could well mark the start of the general election campaign. Mr. Romney already has a head start putting forward specific policy proposals. If Mr. Obama, Sen. Reid and Democrats are serious about retaining power and winning Nevada in November, they won’t win over moderates and independents with scare tactics and finger-pointing.

The Democratic Party had complete control of Washington for two years, and it still holds the White House and the Senate. The stimulus plan did not delivery the recovery they promised. Their health care reforms have hurt hiring and driven billions of dollars of capital into hiding. Their multiple housing interventions and handouts have done nothing to lift that market. Unemployment remains stubbornly high. And federal spending is out of control.

“Romney stinks” is not a plan to reverse those fortunes. Voters expect attacks in any campaign. They also expect specific ideas. Democrats would do well to offer more than tax hikes on the rich and amnesty for illegal immigrants.