Politics: Mitt Gambles With the Donald

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Politics Mitt Gambles With the Donald The Romney campaign thinks it can manage the risks of a night in Vegas with Donald Trump. By John Dickerson Posted Tuesday, May 29, 2012, at 11:18 PM ET Mitt Romney and Donald Trump are teaming up for a Las Vegas fundraiser tonight. We've seen this movie before: The straight-laced square goes to Vegas with his outrageous friend and wakes up with a Mike Tyson tattoo, next to a woman who draws a heart over the "i" in her stage name. Romney's general-election strategy has been to allow no distraction from his focus on the economy. Trump's strategy is pure distraction. In neon. Recently he tried to raise—yet another time—questions about the president's birthplace. Today, Trump put the birthplace question at the center of the election: "@BarackObama is practically begging @MittRomney to disavow the place of birth movement, he is afraid of it and for good reason. He keeps using @SenJohnMcCain as an example, however, @SenJohnMcCain lost the election. Don't let it happen again."  Mitt Romney is a risk-averse politician. His speeches almost never vary. He carefully limits his interactions with the press and sticks closely to the script because, as he explained, specifics can get you in political trouble. So it is notable that the Trump arm-lock is the second risk he has taken in a week. The first was a visit to Universal Bluford Charter School in West Philadelphia, a predominantly African-American neighborhood where there aren't many Republican voters. Now Romney's engaged with Trump, whose obsession with the president's birthplace—and the racial overtones of that quest—undoes the message Romney was trying to send the week ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Manjoo: Does Facebook Really Think It Can Make a Better Phone Than Apple's? The San Antonio Spurs Embody Everything America Claims To Value but Secretly Loathes How a Poor New York Girl Ended Up Designing Mamie Eisenhower's Inaugural Gown	Advertisement
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