Philip Rucker and Dan Balz do a bang-up job, previewing Mitt Romney's international trip and what the campaign aims to get from it.
Romney’s advisers said they envision two story lines emerging from his trip, the first being his role running the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The candidate hopes to use the Olympics spotlight to present himself as someone who “turns around tough situations,” said a senior adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the trip.
“What is undersold, or not appreciated enough, is how bad a shape the Olympics were in when he took them over,” the adviser said. “It looks easy in retrospect. When you talk to him, it’s one of the toughest things he did. Second, certainly going to Israel is an expression of your priorities in foreign policy. Governor Romney strongly believes in Israel, and in Israel as an ally, and the strongest threat is Iran getting a nuclear bomb.”
And in case you were wondering, there won't be any Obama-bashing on the menu, or as Romney adviser Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says, "He will not be ragging on President Obama."
[Hat tip: My colleague Emily Goodin]
