The Mitt Romney for prez campaign released a new ad running in Iowa that seeks to build on his win in the Saturday straw poll. You can watch it here (note that on this link, the 30-second spot is followed by several minutes of other footage of Romney in Iowa). The script is brief, with Romney speaking throughout:

“If there’s ever been a time that we needed to see change in Washington, it’s now. First of all, I want to strengthen our military and then strengthen our economy and strengthen our families. I will secure our border, and amnesty will not work. I want to strengthen marriage, keep our taxes down, keep government small, and keep America always the hope of the Earth. Change begins in Iowa and change begins today. Thank you so very much. I’m Mitt Romney and I approved this message.”

It’s silly to fault a 30-second ad for being shallow and empty. With a huge majority of Americans, including Republicans, believing that the country is on the wrong track, it’s natural to claim the mantle of change. But after two terms of Bush, it’s hard for Republicans to capture that feeling, and it becomes harder if they support all the major Bush themes and policies.

 The main thing I note in this ad is that after staking the ad on ”change” (and if you listen to some of the footage that follows the ad, you’ll see that change is constant refrain in all Romney rhetoric),  he endorses themes and concepts that, with the exception of the reference to amnesty (and even on that one, Romney’s anti-amnesty position represents maintaining the status quo), would (and have and will) come out of Pres. Bush’s mouth.

Who thinks it would be a “change” after two Bush terms to have a president who is pro-military, pro-marriage, pro-family, anti-tax, and wants to “keep government small and keep America always the hope of the Earth?”