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Axelrod: The Perception That We're Negative is...Romney's Fault
Townhall.com ^ | July 25, 2012 | Guy Benson

Posted on 07/26/2012 3:22:26 AM PDT by Kaslin

Good luck with this argument, Axe:

Axelrod Says Their Attack Ads Aren't Why People Think They're Running Negative Campaign

Scarborough's chuckle is perfect.  The Obama campaign has outspent Romney overall, besting the Republican by a 3-to-1 margin on battleground television ads thus far.  More than three-quarters of those ads have been negative, and many of those negative ads have been debunked as false by independent fact-checkers.  Now that Romney and his allies have hit back with ads correcting the record and pointing out the death of 'hope and change," Axelrod is blaming them for the public perception that Obama's gone mega negative.  Talk about a circular argument.  It's also an ironic one.  Think about it: When asked why his campaign is so negative, Axelrod blames the other side.  Argument confirmed.  There's a reason Obama's favorability has taken a hit in multiple recent polls -- and that reason is staring him in the mirror.  On the other side of the aisle, RealClearPolitics' Sean Trende argues that Republicans are missing an important opportunity to go positive and build up Mitt Romney:
 

While the Obama camp has been trying to give voters what they want, albeit from a negative perspective (and perhaps part of why Obama hasn’t moved the polls with his blitz is that those voters who are interested in Bain and Romney’s taxes are waiting to hear Romney’s side of the story), the Romney camp and his super PAC supporters have been banging their collective heads against a wall essentially trying to re-convince voters that the president is not doing a good job. Simply put, this won’t do it. It is a real question whether the Romney campaign gets this. Throughout the primary process, it focused relentlessly on tearing down its opponents. Thus far, it has done the same in the general election. Maybe Romney doesn’t have that much of a record of accomplishment as governor, outside of the radioactive health care law. Or maybe the campaign simply isn’t capable of telling a compelling, positive story about the nominee.


While I think it's important to continue hitting Obama on his failures, using his words and promises against him, and exploiting his slips ("you didn't build that," "it worked," etc), I agree that the GOP must also craft the case for Mitt Romney.  Unlike Trende, I don't think it should be too difficult.  He's had a "sterling" private sector career (according to Bill Clinton), during which he started and saved numerous businesses, creating tens of thousands of net jobs in the process.  He took over a scandal-plagued, red-ink-stained Olympic Games in 1999 and turned it around into an glowing national triump by early 2002.  And he governed a state for four years, delivering job growth (50th to 28th by his final year), quadruple balanced budgets and unemployment below five percent.  Democrats are on offense, trying to render Romney's time at Bain and on Beacon Hill toxic.  His record tells another story -- but he has to take that case to the public.  Trende writes that many voters are still evaluating Romney:
 

First, by a 90 percent to 8 percent margin, registered voters say that they already pretty much know what they need to know about President Obama. Second, by a 69 percent to 28 percent margin, these voters say that they already pretty much know what they need to know about Romney. In other words, three times as many voters are still evaluating the presumptive GOP nominee as are evaluating the president. Third, among independents -- who are almost certainly the lion’s share of those who have not yet formed a strong opinion of Romney -- 42 percent say they want to know more about his record as governor, 37 percent want to know more about his record as CEO of Bain Capital, and 35 percent want to know more about his tax returns. Just 21 percent of independents want to know more about his wealth, 19 percent want to know more about his family and upbringing, and 16 percent want to know more about his religious beliefs.


If independents are not getting this information from Romney, they're getting it through the distorted Democrat attack machine.  And if that trend continues -- to paraphrase David Axelrod -- that really would be Romney's own fault.


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: axelrod; hitlermustache; protecttherino; rinoromney; romney; romneybotshere
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To: Kaslin
The Perception That We're Negative is...Romney's Fault

Why of COURSE!!

It's ALWAYS someones else's fault: NEVER Obama's!!

21 posted on 07/26/2012 9:06:32 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: Kaslin
The Perception That We're Negative is...Romney's Fault

Take THAT; Fools!

Waste time DEFENDING yourselves yet again!!

Hee hee hee...

22 posted on 07/26/2012 9:07:52 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: IWONDR
ven save America from 4 more years of BarackO>

Why??




Are you still killing your unborn?

-- GOD


 

23 posted on 07/26/2012 9:12:27 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: IWONDR


I hear you are upset by 12 dead in Colorado...

 

 

 

-- GOD


  

 

24 posted on 07/26/2012 9:14:18 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: Elsie


"CHOICE" brings me about 44 souls a day from Colorado...

 

 

 

-- GOD


  

 

25 posted on 07/26/2012 9:16:28 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: Kaslin

More than three-quarters of those ads have been negativee
___________________________________________________

So ???

ALL of Willzard’s ads against the Conservatives in the primary were negative...

and outright lies...


26 posted on 07/26/2012 9:18:26 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Tennessee Nana

First of all we are past the primaries. Second remember in the 2004 presidential election when the rats were running against President Bush? Instead of competing against each other, they were attacking President Bush. You thought they all wanted to share the presidency. Don’t tell me you wanted the Republicans do the same? LOL


27 posted on 07/26/2012 9:25:53 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

There has NOT been a nomination yet.

If the GOP adopts the DEATH CARE author,
they will not get my vote, NOR MILLIONS of others.

THAT is why Mr. RomneyCARE is THE chosen loser.

THE CHOSEN LOSER.


28 posted on 07/26/2012 9:30:25 AM PDT by Diogenesis ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)
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To: Hotlanta Mike

So can I for Mitt Romney


29 posted on 07/26/2012 9:30:30 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

First of all we are past the primaries
_______________________________________________

But I’m not past obeying God...

He tells me that abortion and same sex marriage are evil, abominations, sins...

and to FLEE the very appearance of evil...

Your liberal boy Willie thinks those are wonderful...

While theyre OK for your boy, theyre not OK with God...

IF your boy Willie was to actually buy himself the GOP nomination in Tampa, as a Christian and a Conservative I CHOOSE to obey God and reject your immoral trashy pig of a candidate...

along with his Siamese Twin Obama of course...


30 posted on 07/26/2012 9:43:08 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Tennessee Nana

I’ve finally gotten a bit of rain in the last few days - a little over an inch.


31 posted on 07/26/2012 4:28:06 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: Diogenesis; IWONDR
You of course, will discuss NONE of the above, and in its stead you will continue backstabbing, lying,

You of course, will continue your denigration of Romney and equating him with obama.

You cannot really believe that Romney will do the same damage to the USA as obama has done.

If you truly do believe that, you should be in a mental facility.

32 posted on 07/27/2012 4:47:15 AM PDT by USS Alaska (Nuke the terrorist savages, start today.)
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To: USS Alaska; SolidWood; Leisler; greyfoxx39; Tennessee Nana; EternalVigilance; Elsie; ...
Once again, rather than respond, like all RomneyBOTs,
and those in Romney's Legion of Saboteurs and Backstabbers,
YOU attack the poster.

Thank you for making the case that Mr. RomneyCARE's entire "conservative"
position was, and remains, as empty as ... a burst balloon.


33 posted on 07/27/2012 5:39:36 AM PDT by Diogenesis ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)
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