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Obama attacks may hurt him as much as Romney
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Barack ObamaThe campaign's over, John... is anchoring his re-election campaign around sharp attacks on Willard MittRomney ...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the presumptive Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field. On the plus side, he isn't President B.O... 's business record, but the hardball strategy also risks tarnishing the president's own political brand. In 2008, Mr Obama ran for office presenting himself as a different kind of politician, one who would seek to bridge divides rather than open new ones, and as a purveyor of a style of politics purged of Washington's normal bitterness. His negative assault on Mr Romney is designed to disqualify the central premise of his rival's campaign -- that as a successful businessman, he has the experience and knowledge to fire up a slow economic recovery. But analysts say, Obama may also in the process risk damaging his own standing with voters, and put at risk the affection many voters still have for their president, despite frustration with the plodding economy. "It's a possibility that by his campaign being very negative on Mr Romney, that could lead some people to be less approving of him personally," said Mr Robert Erikson, a political scientist at Columbia University ...contributed $547,852 to the 2008 Obama campaign. Is there a reason universities are among the top financiers of political campaigns? And where do they get all that money they piss away buying politicians? in New York. But Mr Obama will also be weighing whether his attacks will harm Romney's standing more than his own in a close election. "Maybe there's a cost to the campaign, you lose something personally but your opponents lose even more if you attack them," Mr Erikson said. "(But) if I were advising Obama, I don't think I would advise him to avoid being negative towards his opponent. I don't think that would be the wise course." Recent polls show Obama with a slight lead over Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee in November's election, but also suggest the president has little margin for error as he shoots for a second term in November. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found that more Americans disapprove (49 per cent) of how Obama is governing America than approve (47 per cent) and 55 per cent of those asked did not like how the president was steering the economy. On the other hand, 52 per cent of those asked thought Mr Obama's personality was better suited to being president. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 49 per cent had a very or somewhat positive view of Obama. Only 34 per cent said the same of Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and multi-millionaire venture capitalist. "In this particular election, Obama faces the problem that just being liked is probably not enough to win the election for sure," said Clyde Wilcox, a political science professor at Georgetown University. "It looks like a pretty close election. So I think at this point that his people have pretty much decided ... Romney has pretty high negatives and they want to make sure they stay there." Posted by: Fred 2012-05-29 |
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