BOSTON (AP) — Mitt Romney faces urgent tasks as he heads into a new phase of the White House race. He's trying to repair an image damaged by negative Democratic advertising and shift the trajectory of a campaign that's seen him lose ground to President Barack Obama.
He's got opportunities, starting with a big battleground-state bus tour beginning Saturday. Then comes his critical running-mate announcement and the TV hoopla of a national convention, where he'll accept the nomination he's sought for nearly a decade.
If the past few days are any indication, Romney will spend the coming weeks trying to gain ground largely by trying to drag Obama down on a host of issues. It's a shift away from the all-economy, all-the-time strategy of the past several months.
