Mike Allen's Politico Paybook has advance excerpts of Mitt Romney's presidential announcement speech, and what struck me in them were the echoes of Democrats past. There's a Romney reference to "Folks who grew up believing that if they played by the rules, worked hard, that they would have the chance to build a good life, with steady work and always that possibility to work a little harder and get ahead," which is an echo of Bill Clinton's 1992 speech (click through to that link and you might smile) at Madison Square Garden in New York accepting the Democratic presidential nomination: "In the name of all the people who do the work, pay the taxes, raise the kids and play by the rules--of the hard-working Americans who make up our forgotten middle class, I proudly accept your nomination for President of the United States of America."
Then there's this, from Mr. Romney: "My generation will pass the torch to the next generation, not a bill." That's an echo, or a reference to, President Kennedy's inaugural address: "Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage."
If Mr. Romney wants to make the case that it is today's Republican Party, rather than President Obama's Democratic Party, that is the proper descendant of the policies of Presidents Clinton and Kennedy, it's going to be one interesting campaign.