“Welcome to the general election,” says Obama campaign manager Jim Messina. David Axelrod dismissive of potential Romney running-mate Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.
(Getty Images / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI)
President Barack Obama's campaign strategists held a conference call Wednesday night to mark the start of the general election.
Republicans "settled on their candidate, or should I say settled for their candidate," campaign manager Jim Messina said, as he welcomed reporters to the start of the general election and laid into the presumptive Republican nominee.
"We're not the candidate who reinvents himself from week to week," campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said. "If you want that, you're gonna have to go somewhere else."
"Romney has been running for president every day for six years, we don't have that advantage," Axelrod added. "Romney hasn't had a job for six years."
The campaign announced that Obama and the First Lady will hold their first campaign rallies this year on Saturday May 5th, one in Columbus Ohio, and one in Richmond, Va.
The Obama campaign said the President will no longer allow Republicans to set the agenda: "The monologue is over," Messina said.
"This is not going to be a one-way discussion. We are proud of the president's record," added Axelrod.
The Obama campaign was ready with talking points to discuss Mitt Romney's potential running mates, with Axelrod pouring water on potential nomine Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.
"The challenge with Senator Portman, is that the Senator Portman was one of the architects of the last administration’s budget policies," Axelrod said dismissively.
The campaign added that they are unfazed by the Republican National Committee's "stunt" calling for the Government Accountability Office to investigate Obama for taking political trips on the taxpayers' dime. "We are not going to get hot and bothered by RNC stunts," Axelrod said.
Axelrod and Messina exuded confidence on the call, leaving out their standard words of caution that the election will be close in November. They even boasted that there are now even more paths to victory for Obama than the five the campaign outlined late last year.