Posted on 04/24/2012 12:26:37 PM PDT by raccoonradio
(snip) The bad news for Obama four years later is that the first weeks of the general-election campaign have demonstrated that Mitt Romney and his top staff are not going to play by the same rules as the McCain campaign. On April 11, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen appeared on Anderson Cooper’s CNN program and scoffed at Ann Romney’s value to her husband in helping assess the economic challenges of women voters by declaring that “she never worked a day in her life.”
Some campaigns might have questioned how much they could do with an off-key insulting comment from a talking head. But the Romney camp made sure a YouTube video of the comment was distributed to hundreds of blogs, and less than two hours after Rosen’s comment, Ann Romney set up a Twitter account. Her first message was, “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.” Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, and campaign manager Jim Messina were quick to assert that they disagreed with Rosen’s comment, and the next day, Michelle Obama, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the president himself followed suit.
Rosen’s extensive ties to the White House (35 visits, more than some cabinet members have made!) became the issue the following day, and on the third day Ann Romney joined her husband on stage at the NRA convention to roaring applause and saluted stay-at-home moms — and stay-at-home dads as well. Rosen’s stray comment kept the Obama campaign on the defensive for three days, with reporters insisting that Obama’s people confirm that they think stay-at-home moms should be credited as hard workers, too.
The following week brought an even more vivid example of the Romney campaign’s opportunism. The tale of Mitt Romney putting the carrier containing the family dog, Seamus, on the roof of his car is one of Democrats’ favorite knocks on the all-but-certain GOP nominee. The idea is that Romney is a terrible monster to man and beast alike.
On April 17, Jim Treacher, a mostly comedic columnist and blogger for the Daily Caller website, asked if Democrats really wanted to talk about what each candidate had done to a dog decades ago, pointing out that Obama’s autobiography tells about how as a child in Indonesia he “was introduced to dog meat (tough).”
Within a few hours, Twitter was full of jokes about “Obama dog recipes.” At 10:11 p.m. Eastern time that evening, Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom tweaked David Axelrod about a photo of Obama and Bo riding in the presidential limousine, which Axelrod had put on Twitter back in January with the comment, “How loving owners transport their dogs.” Fehrnstrom linked to Axelrod’s tweet and wrote, “In hindsight, a chilling photo.”
The message was subtle. There was no direct mention of the president eating a dog; Fehrnstrom said just enough to get people who were unaware of the emerging story line to wonder why a picture of Obama with his dog now seemed chilling. The Obama campaign could have laughed it off or ignored it, but instead they went with indignant outrage. Campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt tweeted back, “What’s the next attack [Fehrnstrom] and the RNC will surface on a 6-10 year old?”
With representatives of the two campaigns publicly sparring over this, it became legitimate for a major newsman like ABC’s chief White House correspondent, Jake Tapper, to offer a quick summary, headlined “Obama as a Boy Ate Dog Meat.” Probably not the headline Axelrod had been hoping for that day.(snip)
Perhaps as the campaign progresses, the electorate will see Romney as a joke as well. But for now, a lot of people are laughing at jokes about the grumpy mood of President Obama’s dog, Bo — and what possibly could be eating him.
Don’t forget Chicken Poodle Soup and for dessert Baked A Lassie.....
Wait - he is a dog-eater...
Or that the campaign has to change plans once the general election arrives?
Sounds like the same strategy to me. I'm glad Romney has found the subject that gets at the hearts of American’s the quickest, I always chose candidates based on how much the abuse their dog.- Not! "Our dog abuser is better than your dog eater" is not proof of a good campaign.
I liked that comment...but Romney ruined it by that nervous giggle he emitted after making it.
“Our dog abuser is better than your dog eater” is not proof of a good campaign.
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However it is proof that there is not enough difference in policy records to matter between these two bizarre opportunists.
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