[CatherineofAragon]

According to what I’ve learned, people SAY they don’t like negative ads, but in spite of that, they work.

[Moorings]

Mittster is saving up all the money he raised the last few months for 2016, when he can use it all against his conservative primary opponents./sarc

[Reily]

Yes studies do show they work. I believe Lee Atwater’s master's thesis was on that subject and drew that conclusion. I am just repeating what conservative-oriented people but NOT political junkies (like the denizens of this site!) say to me as I encounter them when I work and do personal activities.

Anyway traditionally the VEEP candidate is the attack dog, and the POTUS candidate tries remain above it all. Dole did that for Ford, then when he ran both he and Kemp went to sleep. Reagan didn't need one and anyway Bush I was more of a attack hamster. When Bush I ran at least the 2nd time Quayle got himself labeled as an attack vegetable and it stuck. Cheney filled the role well, so well he got labeled as a Star Wars villain by the left. Pailn did it well but she was handicapped by being tied a presidential candidate that looked like the best that the art of taxidermy could offer.

I think its too early to draw conclusions about how aggressive Romney will be. His personality strikes me as the “passive aggressive” type, so the use of surrogates doesn't surprise me. After what he did in the primary that seems to be his M.O.