Obama continues negative campaign - tries to trash Governor Romney

Having seen Mitt Romney, build a lead among the critical Independent voters and veterans, close the gender gap and improve his favorable ratings while the recently restarted Obama reelection campaign stumbles badly out of the gate. And as hid campaign suffers from the Democrats’ Bain mutiny and a campaign spokesman who bears false witness, Obama decides to continue his negative feedback loop by attempting to trash Romney’s gubernatorial record.

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That now seems to be the Obamacrats standard operating procedure. The first thing they do is go negative and try to demonize their opponents rather than stand on their record.

Yesterday, Obama’s chief reelection campaign strategist, David Axelrod issued a five-page memo on Wednesday attacking Romney’s record on jobs, taxes, fiscal responsibility as governor of Massachusetts. All of the featured speakers are Democrats even though the video does not identify their party affiliations. Today the Obama campaign released a new four minute video and sent Axelrod to Boston to coordinate a press conference to try to build momentum for the desperate effort to demonize Romney.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg responded to Obama’s Romney demonization effort:

“President Obama’s campaign is willing to say anything to cover up for the President’s years of broken promises and job-destroying policies. President Obama would love to have Mitt Romney’s record of job creation and economic growth. Instead, he’s stuck defending an unemployment rate that has failed to meet his own goal of 6% and an economy that’s stuck in neutral. If President Obama had even half of Mitt Romney’s record on jobs and the economy, he’d be running on it.”

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The Romney Campaign also offered this comparison of Governor Romney’s record to that of President Obama:

UNEMPLOYMENT

Romney’s Record:

Massachusetts’ Unemployment Rate Fell From 5.6% To 4.7% During The Romney Administration. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5/30/12).

Obama’s Record:

President Obama’s Advisors Predicted The Stimulus Would Lower Unemployment To 6% Today – But It Remains Above 8%. (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, “The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan,” 1/9/09)

JOB CREATION

Romney’s Record:

Massachusetts Added Tens Of Thousands Of Net New Jobs During The Romney Administration. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 5/30/12)

Obama’s Record:

Under President Obama, The Nation Has Lost 572,000 Jobs. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 5/30/12)

ECONOMIC GROWTH

Romney’s Record:

Boston Business Journal, January 2007: “Thousands Of People Are Re-Entering Massachusetts’ Work Force As Its Jobs Engine … Continues To Gain Traction.” (Boston Business Journal, 1/1/07)

Obama’s Record:

Los Angeles Times: “GDP: U.S. Economy Expands At Lackluster 2.2% Rate In 1st Quarter” (Los Angeles Times, 4/27/12)

BUDGET

Romney’s Record:

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Governor Romney Closed A Nearly $3 Billion Shortfall Without Raising Taxes And Balanced Four Budgets.  (Pam Belluck, “Romney Candidacy Puts Massachusetts Economy In Spotlight,” The New York Times, 3/16/07)

Obama’s Record:

President Obama Has Projected The “Fourth Straight Year Of Deficits Over $1 Trillion.” (“Highlights Of Obama’s $3.8 Trillion Budget,” The Associated Press, 2/14/12)

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Romney’s Record:

Governor Romney Left More Than $2 Billion In The State’s Rainy Day Fund.  (Editorial, “Vote For Romney On Saturday,” Charleston Post & Courier, 1/20/12)

Obama’s Record:

By The End Of His Term In Office, President Obama Will Nearly Double The Nation’s Debt Held By The Public. (Eric Stirgus, “Obama Setting Debt Record, Georgia GOP Says,” PolitiFact.com, 2/1/12)

There does seem to be at least some desperation to this second line of negative Obama attacks on Romney. As Michael Barone noted this morning “Axelrod is endeavoring not to panic.” That sounds a bit desperate.

It must be hard for Axelrod not to panic. Polls show the Obama attacks against Romney’s private equity experience at Bain Capital are not hurting Romney, but the attacks have caused much dissension among Obamacrats. This morning we learned that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick joined the Democrats’ Bain mutiny. Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Patrick called Bain “a perfectly fine company.” You can watch video of Patrick’s comments here.

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There is more to cause team Obama concern. Last night on Fox News’ Special Report, Ed Henry reported that “top advisors to the President privately admit they are bracing for…the monthly jobs report for May.” According to Henry, that is an indication that Friday’s job report will be bad news.

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