Reorganization, Restructuring and Reelection

President Obama certainly has made quite a splash with his jump-started reorganization initiative. He's succeeded in putting Republicans on the defensive when it comes to cutting bureaucracy, forcing them to come up with their own specific plans if they want to take the position that his isn't the right one.

But I wonder if in the process, the president has dug himself a bit of a hole in terms of his reelection effort. Until recently, at least, GOP candidates have been working overtime to beat up front-runner Mitt Romney over his days at Bain Capital, making the case that in some instances, the companies in which he invested cared less about jobs and more about ruthlessly cutting costs (and workers, if necessary) in the interest of improving efficiency and boosting returns on investment.

The assumption has been that the Obama campaign would pick up this line of attack if Romney gets the nomination. But listen to what Obama said to a group of small business leaders on Friday, as he made the case for overhauling government's business- and trade-related organizations and slashing thousands of overhead jobs:

No business or nonprofit leader would allow this kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations. You wouldn't do it when you're thinking about your businesses. So why is it okay for our government? It's not. It has to change.

Granted, the Obama administration has said any job cuts will be made in a humane way, through attrition, but still, can't Romney simply say he was doing for businesses the same kind of thing Obama wants to do for government?

(Photo courtesy the White House)