Obama's Personal Campaign Ad: Confident or Defensive?
President Obama is up with a new ad, and for the first time this election, he’s speaking to camera in this spot. The one-minute spot, titled “The Choice,” is a well-produced articulation of his central campaign theme – and the campaign slogan “Forward” appears on the screen at the end, for good measure. In it, he argues the election is a choice between two visions for the country, portraying Mitt Romney’s plan as benefiting the very wealthy.
But the most notable aspects of the ad are the presentation and the tone. Compared to the acerbic attacks coming from his campaign lately, Obama takes a much more restrained approach, calmly explaining his differences with Romney. It raises questions whether the no-holds-barred attacks against Romney’s tax records may have had a counterproductive effect.
It also seems that Obama’s campaign is using all the tricks in its playbook awfully early. The politician-speaks-to-camera approach is one that is more commonly seen towards the very end of a campaign, and when it’s used to draw contrasts with an opponent, it’s often a defensive strategy.
The ad comes after Obama’s campaign threw some of their toughest punches at Romney, with no discernible change in the polling. The race is still close, with neither candidate able to gain momentum. Obama stabilized his own standing in a month where economic news grew worse, but Romney’s favorables haven’t gotten noticeably worse, either.
Obama’s campaign has been operating smoothly lately, and has smartly thrown most of its punches early, given the tough environment the president is running in. On one hand, the president’s new ad is a sign of that confidence. On the other hand, using the president himself to land hits against Romney in a campaign commercial – over three months before Election Day -- is a sign of how difficult winning a second term would be. Read more
--Josh Kraushaar, Hotline executive editor
NATIONAL JOURNAL’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE REPORT
Not Nearly the Foreign Policy Pizzazz for Romney Trip – But Does He Want it?
[National Journal, 7/24/12] Romney’s trip abroad echoes Obama’s in 2008 – but on a smaller scale. Experts say it looks like Romney’s itinerary – Olympics, Poland, Israel -- was set by “the naked electoral politics” of ethnic Catholic and Jewish voters back home, and that he is wise not to try to compete with the pizzazz of Obama’s own trip.
Romney Will Go on Offensive Against Obama’s Foreign Policy in Speech NEW!
[National Journal, 7/24/12] Romney will use a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars today to criticize the president on the upcoming defense cuts, which he will say impair the nation’s ability to fend off threats, and blast his administration for endangering the military by leaking national security secrets.
Despite Bain Attacks, Poll Shows Romney Better Suited to Handle Economy NEW!
[National Journal, 7/24/12] Romney comes out ahead of President Obama on most economic issues in the eyes of voters, according to a Gallup/USA Today poll released on Tuesday. By a 63 percent to 29 percent margin, those surveyed said that Romney's background in business, including his work at Bain, would cause him to make good decisions in dealing with the nation's economic problems.
Romney’s ’02 Olympics Short on Transparency
[Boston Globe, 7/24/12] Romney promised “complete transparency” when he took charge of the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Olympics, but some say Romney was unwilling to share so much as a budget with the state board. Plus, archivists now say most key records were destroyed shortly after the Games.
As Romney Heads to Israel, Is Jewish Vote in Play? NEW!
[National Journal, 7/24/12] Since 1992, the GOP nominee has received between 15 percent and 23 percent of the Jewish vote. Recent history is not deterring Romney, however, who will make the biggest overture possible to the American Jewish community when he arrives in Israel on Sunday.
Charlie Cook: Close-Up Time
[National Journal, 7/24/12] A close-up lens keeping the focus trained squarely on Obama and the state – and direction – of the economy would likely present a picture that Obama and Democrats don’t want. But a wide-angle lens is also in place, including a rather unflattering picture of Romney and his career at Bain Capital. Which side will keep the electorate’s attention?
Seven Key Swing State Economies
[CNN, 7/24/12] This election will be won or lost in just a handful of battleground states, and a weak local economy could turn a state from blue to red. From Virginia to Colorado, CNN Money takes a look.
How Super PACs are Saving Romney
[Washington Post, 7/24/12] Super PACs might be Romney’s saving grace. In just a few months into the election, super PACs and other outside groups have already spent $144 million on general election ads in swing states—far exceeding that of groups supporting Obama.
Beau Biden: The Next Generation
[Politico, 7/24/12] As Obama and Romney appeal to veterans this week at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, 43, is a unique ambassador for his father and the president: He was a JAG officer whose National Guard unit was stationed in Baghdad for 10 months.
Fact Check: Disability Claims Still Growing at VA
[Associated Press, 7/24/12] Obama paints an encouraging picture of the resources his administration has poured into veterans. But he glosses over how much more difficult it is for veterans to get disability benefits and mental health treatment than when he came into office.
Obama Turns to the Karl Rove Playbook
[Daily Beast, 7/24/12] Joel Kotkin writes that in order to recast the election as anything other than what it naturally is – a referendum on the incumbent and the state of the nation – Obama has revived the kind of divisive 50 percent-plus-one politics Bush political guru Karl Rove championed in 2004.
Obama Makes One-on-One Pitch in New Ad
[National Journal, 7/23/12] Obama is up with a new TV ad, scheduled to run in swing states Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The ad shows the president discussing what he describes as competing visions for the country.
Obama Refuses to Get into a Gun Debate
[The Hill, 7/23/12] Obama, determined not to allow fights over gun control to become a larger theme in the presidential campaign, has signaled no support for tougher gun-control legislation in the wake of the fatal Friday shooting at a Colorado movie theater. For his part, Romney said stricter gun laws wouldn’t have prevented the shooting.
Poll: Romney Preferred Over Obama to Handle the Economy
[USA Today, 7/24/12] Despite concerted Democratic attacks on his business record, particularly on his time at Bain Capital, Romney scored a significant advantage over Obama when it comes to managing the economy, a new poll finds.
A Ghost Haunting Obama Named Barofsky
[National Journal, 7/23/12] Neil Barofsky is not the sort of guy you want popping up in a tight election race if you’re Obama, National Journal's Michael Hirsh writes. That's first because Barofsky is an all-too-credible critic of the Obama administration’s lopsided economic approach—but mostly because Barofsky is trying to sell a new book that offers a devastating indictment of Obama’s team.
