President, unable to run on his own record, keeps attacking Romney. Obama has waged a negative campaign against Mitt Romney.
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the negative tone of the campaign has taken a greater toll on Obama, the man responsible (if indirectly) for most of the vitriol. According to an NBC/WSJ poll conducted in late July, “very negative” views of both are now at a record high, with 32% holding a “very negative” view of Obama, and 24% of Romney.
Those numbers represent unusually high dissatisfaction this early into the race. They’re also tough to turn around this late in the game.
First, voters aren’t stupid. They understand when a line has been crossed and attacks get so vicious and detached from reality that the negative attack triggers the opposite of the intended result. The electorate tends to side with an underdog when lines are crossed by his opponent. So when CBS News ran a damaging piece on George W. Bush’s military service in 2004 that turned out to be largely untrue, many voters sympathized with Bush.
Secondly, when the primary issue for voters is the economy, harping about tax returns and charging that your opponent hates women and children makes Obama look out of touch. Never underestimate how savvy the electorate is when it comes to the economy. If people are hurting like they are now, they want answers about the doom-and-gloom employment situation, not personal jabs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
