A Republican strategist and former GOP leader thinks there's one element missing in the often talked about comparison between the 1980 and 2012 elections -- namely, Mitt Romney is no Ronald Reagan.
Mitt Romney and his campaign have been bogged down dealing with the controversial comments the Republican presidential nominee made during a May fundraising event.
At that event, Romney said 47 percent of the American population is dependent on government and believe they are victims. He also said that he does not expect those voters to support the Republican ticket anyway.
Tom Pauken served on Ronald Reagan's White House staff and later became chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. He thinks that is the wrong attitude.
"There are plenty of people in the 47 percent who are our voters who can be appealed to," he says. "I'm quite frankly disappointed that the Romney campaign has not laid out specific ideas to grow the private sector, get the country moving again and make the case how government doesn't create jobs, only the private sector does."
Pauken says Romney has not convinced him that 2012 could be a replay of 1980 when Jimmy Carter faced similar economic woes in his eventual reelection defeat by Ronald Reagan.
"This was such a great opportunity for a Reagan-style conservative to be the nominee, and quite frankly if we had somebody who could make the kind of case that Reagan made in 1980 during difficult times, I really believe that we ought to be winning by about 15 to 20 points," Pauken tells OneNewsNow. "That it's so close suggests to me that there is something missing here."
Pauken says unlike in 1980, the GOP is putting too much stock in running against Obama than it is in presenting a positive alternative Republican vision for the voters.