Mitt Romney expands Day One promises in new ad

In his second general election ad, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney expands on his promises for his first day in office.

On Day One, the narrator says, Romney would announce deficit reductions, “ending the Obama era of big government.” He will stand up to China on trade, demanding they “play by the rules.” And he will repeal “job-killing regulations.”

In an earlier ad, Romney pledged to approve the Keystone pipeline, introduce tax cuts and start undoing President Obama’s health-care law on his first day on the job.

While both ads are littered with digs at the current White House occupant, Romney has kept his message broad and focused on his own agenda. In an interview with Time magazine Wednesday, he discussed his plans--should he win--for the lame-duck Congressional session between the Nov. 6 elections and the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. He also promised to bring unemployment below 6 percent in his first term.

Day One promises are usually lofty and hard to achieve. Romney’s are no exception, as the Post wrote when he released his full agenda. Most of his proposals would have to go through Congress. The president could accomplish some of his goals unilaterally, such as reprimanding China for currency ma­nipu­la­tion, but some China experts say doing so would risk an unnecessary backlash from the Chinese.