May 20, 2011, 7:27 am

Democrats’ New Tactic: Praising 2012 Republicans

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

 

Charles Dharapak/Associated PressPresident  Obama with Jon Huntsman, the former ambassador to China, at an event with Chinese students at Shanghai’s Museum of Science and Technology in 2009.

At a fund-raiser in Boston this week, President Obama went out of his way to praise Mitt Romney, the former Republican governor of the state, for “an assist” in passing health care reform.
Earlier in the week, a progressive group formed by labor and Democratic operatives called Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana, “another welcome adult voice.” And a separate Democratic group declared Jon Huntsman, the former Republican governor of Utah, to have a “sensible and sometimes progressive record.”
What’s up with all this Democratic praise of the Republicans eager to oust Mr. Obama from office?
Here’s a hint: It’s not a sudden outbreak of bipartisanship in Washington. Democrats have decided that meddling in the Republican primary might offer some election-year benefits for the president and his party.
On the surface, the statements are models of kumbaya rhetoric.
“Governor Daniels could be another welcome adult voice in the health care policy debate,” said Eddie Vale, a spokesman for Protect Your Care, a group formed to promote Mr. Obama’s health care reforms. “When push comes to shove on actual policy, his administration in Indiana has been pretty good at helping to implement the Affordable Care Act.”
But the real idea is to put Republican candidates in an uncomfortable position. Here’s how the strategy could work, according to several Democratic advisers involved in implementing it:
1) Convincing conservative voters that Republican candidates like Mr. Romney or Mr. Huntsman hold similar views to Mr. Obama might make them unacceptable in a Republican primary dominated by Tea Party activists.
If that happens, the Republican party is more likely to nominate a fringe candidate whose views — while acceptable to the activists who participate in the Republican primary voting — would be seen as too far-out in a general election.
A perfect example of this, Democrats said, might be the efforts to point out the kind words that Mr. Huntsman has said about Mr. Obama. “You are a remarkable leader,” Mr. Huntsman wrote in a private letter to Mr. Obama after being chosen as the president’s ambassador to China.
2) If Republican candidates like Mr. Romney or Mr. Huntsman push back against the Democratic praise, they run the risk of looking like they are flip-flopping on positions they once proudly held.
The best example here might be Mr. Romney, whom Democrats lavished with compliments for pushing through a health care plan in Massachusetts that embraced a mandate that individuals have health insurance.
The more Mr. Romney pushes back against the Democrats, the more he looks like he has no principles. If he stands firm on his past support for an individual mandate, he plays into the Democratic efforts to taint him in the eyes of conservatives.
3) Finally, if one of the Republicans emerges as the party’s nominee despite the Democratic plaudits, it may be tougher for that candidate to draw distinctions with Mr. Obama on those issues where they have seemed to agree.
Groups like Protect Your Care hope that by identifying Republicans who have said supportive things about similar health care proposals, they will help bolster the popularity of Mr. Obama’s overhaul. When Republicans attack “Obamacare” for requiring individuals to buy health insurance, Democrats are eager to point to Mr. Romney’s support for the mandate.
But one Democratic operative, who asked not to be named discussing political strategy, said the primary goal is to nudge the Republican party in the direction of a candidate that will be easier to beat in the general election.
“You’d rather run against what you perceive to be their weakest candidates, the ones that fall far outside the mainstream,” the operative said. “If you were the Democratic nominee, would you rather run against Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman? Or would you rather run against Michele Bachmann or Newt Gingrich?”
The desired impact? To twist Republicans in knots on some of the nation’s biggest issues.
“It’s either going to push their party, their primary process, so far to the right that they come up with someone so far to the right that it’s a Goldwater-type election,” said a second Democratic strategist.
“Or, if a Romney or Huntsman gets through,” the strategist said, “now you are going into a general election setting up the frame that both guys have the same position on health care.”
Privately funded Democratic groups are not allowed to coordinate the strategy with Mr. Obama or the Democratic National Committee. But several strategists noted that it’s not hard for everyone involved to see what is being said publicly.
And even if Republicans are merely annoyed by the repeated Democratic praise, that’s fine, too.
“None of us think that the Democratic party can dictate the outcome of the Republican nomination fight,” said one strategist. “But we can have some fun.”