Campaign Of Broken Promises: Negative Attacks

Candidate Obama, Meet President Obama

In 2008, Candidate Obama Told Virginians That “What We Need Now Is Not Misleading Charges And Divisive Attacks.” OBAMA: “Well, what we need now is not misleading charges and divisive attacks. What we need is honest leadership and real change, and that’s why I’m running for President of the United States.” (Senator Barack Obama,Remarks, Richmond, VA, 10/22/08)

PRESIDENT OBAMA DOESN’T HOLD HIMSELF TO CANDIDATE OBAMA’S STANDARDS

The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus: “Forget Hope And Change,” Obama’s Campaign Is Based On “Fear And Loathing.” “Forget hope and change. President Obama’s reelection campaign is going to be based on fear and loathing: fear of what a Republican takeover would mean, and loathing of whomever the Republican nominee turns out to be. Of course the Obama campaign will attempt to present the affirmative case for his reelection, citing legislative achievements, foreign policy successes and the current flurry of executive actions. But his strategists have clearly concluded that selling the president will not be enough, and the contours of the ugly months ahead are becoming increasingly apparent.” (Ruth Marcus, “Campaign 2012: Welcome To The Slugfest,” The Washington Post , 11/2/11)

• Marcus: “And As Much As Obama Presented Himself As Above The Regular Partisan Fray During The 2008 Campaign, He Was Not Averse To Taking The Lower Road When It Appeared The Advisable Route.” (Ruth Marcus, “Campaign 2012: Welcome To The Slugfest,” The Washington Post , 11/2/11)

The Wall Street Journal: “He Was Elected On Hope And Change, But Now His Only Hope Is To Change The Subject To The Ogres He Claims Are The Disloyal Opposition.” (Editorial, “Paul Ryan’s Hunger Games,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/4/12)

2012 Will Be About “Dragging Down His Republican Opponent” Rather Than Lifting Obama Up. “If 2008 was about lifting Mr. Obama up, 2012 will have at least some strong element of dragging down his Republican opponent (who the campaign believes will most likely be Mitt Romney).” (Jim Rutenberg, Op-Ed, “Team Obama Gears Up For 2012,”The New York Times, 11/26/11)

Former Clinton Communications Director Don Baer: “It Seems As Though What They Want To Run Is A Classic Negative Campaign From The White House.” “‘I don’t know why they have gone negative and political so early. … It seems as though what they want to run is a classic negative campaign from the White House,’ Baer said.’ Fair or not, people don’t think of the president being a politician, they want him to be their leader, and it’s hard to do that when the basic message is: Screw the other guys.'” (Josh Gerstein, “Governing Grounds Obama’s Rhetoric,”Politico,1/20/12)

• “Instead, Obama Has Ramped Up The Bellicosity Of His Rhetoric. The President Who Campaigned On Hope And Change Is Now Bashing Congress More Forcefully And More Often.” (Josh Gerstein, “Governing Grounds Obama’s Rhetoric,”Politico,1/20/12)

GOING NEGATIVE MAY BE OBAMA’S ONLY STRATEGY

THEN: In 2008, Obama Warned Ohioans Of “Slash And Burn, Say-Anything, Do-Anything Politics That’s Calculated To Divide And Distract.” OBAMA: “So I expect we’re going to see a lot more of that over the next few days. More of the slash and burn, say-anything, do-anything politics that’s calculated to divide and distract; to tear us apart instead of bringing us together. Well, that’s not the kind of politics the American people need right now.” (Senator Barack Obama, Remarks, Columbus, OH, 11/2/08)

NOW: Democrat Pollsters Pat Caddell And Doug Schoen: Obama Can Only Win By Running “The Most Negative Campaign In History.” “Put simply, it seems that the White House has concluded that if the president cannot run on his record, he will need to wage the most negative campaign in history to stand any chance. With his job approval ratings below 45% overall and below 40% on the economy, the president cannot affirmatively make the case that voters are better off now than they were four years ago. He-like everyone else-knows that they are worse off.”(Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen, “The Hillary Moment,” The Wall Street Journal , 11/21/11)

Obama And Biden Have Been Delivering Stump Speeches “Smacking At Their Opponents.” “Both the president and the vice president have been stepping up the number of campaign fundraisers they’ve been attending in recent months, and they’ve delivered early version of their stump speeches at all of them – promoting the administration’s record, talking about the unfinished work ahead and smacking at their opponents.” (Glenn Thrush and Jennifer Epstein, “Kick-Off Day For Obama Campaign,”Politico, 3/15/12)

• CNN’s John King: Obama And Biden Are “Getting Personal And More Aggressive Because They Know How Vulnerable They Are.” “Here’s tonight’s ‘Truth.’ The vice president and the Obama campaign aren’t just getting personal for kicks. They’re getting personal and more aggressive because they know how vulnerable they are, just how tough the state-by-state Electoral College map is.” (CNN’s “John King USA,” 3/15/12)

Obama Will “Run A Much More Negative Campaign” To Combat A Jobless Rate That Has Not Allowed For A President’s Reelect “Since The Great Depression.” “The jobless rate will stand at levels that have not led to a president’s re-election since the Great Depression. Largely because of that, Obama will run a much more negative campaign, his aides acknowledge, even if it threatens to demoralize some supporters who were inspired by his 2008 message of hope.” (Charles Babington, “2012 Race Likely To Be Close, Tough, Maybe Brutal,” The Associated Press, 11/5/11)

For Team Obama, It Has Always Been About Mitt Romney

The Obama Campaign Will Wage A “Ferocious Personal Assault On Mitt Romney’s Character And Business Background.” “Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s reelection campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background, a strategy grounded in the early-stage expectation that the former Massachusetts governor is the likely GOP nominee.” (Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin, “Obama Plan: Destroy Romney,” Politico, 8/9/11)

• “‘Unless Things Change And Obama Can Run On Accomplishments, He Will Have To Kill Romney,’ Said A Prominent Democratic Strategist Aligned With The White House.” (Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin, “Obama Plan: Destroy Romney,” Politico, 8/9/11)
• “And So The Candidate Who Ran On ‘Hope’ In 2008 Has Little Choice Four Years Later But To Run A Slashing, Personal Campaign Aimed At Disqualifying His Likeliest Opponent.” (Ben Smith And Jonathan Martin, “Obama Plan: Destroy Romney,” Politico, 8/9/11)
• In About A Dozen Interviews, Obama’s Advisers Referred To Romney As “Weird.” “The onslaught would have two aspects. The first is personal: Obama’s re-elect will portray the public Romney as inauthentic, unprincipled and, in a word used repeatedly by Obama’s advisers in about a dozen interviews, ‘weird.'” (Ben Smith And Jonathan Martin, “Obama Plan: Destroy Romney,” Politico, 8/9/11)

The New York Times: “The Flub Watch Never Stops For Obama’s Team.” (Helene Cooper, “The Flub Watch Never Stops For Obama’s Team,”The New York Times, 2/5/12)

Obama Is Trying To “Tear Down Romney Without Getting A Single Smudge Of Dirt On” Himself. “But as the president’s re-election team begins in earnest to attack Mitt Romney, Obama faces one of the most difficult tests of his political career: to tear down Romney without getting a single smudge of dirt on his own shirtfront – a trick he has performed deftly in previous races.” (Ben Smith, “Obama’s Style: Go Negative, Stay Clean,”Politico, 11/3/11)

“But There Was No Need For A ‘Flip Of The Switch’ As The GOP Campaign Ended, Because The Obama Operation Had Already Been Long-Engaged In The Fight.”(Michael Memoli and Kathleen Hennessey, “Obama Campaign Primed For General Election Battle With Romney,” Los Angeles Times, 4/15/12)

• Jim Messina: “We Were Ready Months Ago.” “‘We were ready months ago,’ campaign manager Jim Messina said in an interview last week in his office overlooking Millennium Park. ‘We’re ready on the ground, we’re ready structurally, we’re ready in that room out there.'” (Michael Memoli and Kathleen Hennessey, “Obama Campaign Primed For General Election Battle With Romney,” Los Angeles Times, 4/15/12)
• The Obama Campaign Has “Long Been Treating Romney As Their Most Likely Foe.” “Down the hall from Messina’s office, David Axelrod explained that with Romney now the presumptive nominee there was sure to be ‘a bit more overt back and forth’ between the two campaigns. But, he noted, they had long been treating Romney as their most likely foe.” (Michael Memoli and Kathleen Hennessey, “Obama Campaign Primed For General Election Battle With Romney,”Los Angeles Times, 4/15/12)

• For Team Obama, The Battle Has Always Been About Mitt Romney . “In the rarefied world that is dedicated to getting Mr. Obama re-elected, the battle has never been viewed through the prism of how to beat Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum or Ron Paul. It has always been about Mitt Romney.” (Helene Cooper, “The Flub Watch Never Stops For Obama’s Team,”The New York Times , 2/5/12)
• Obama Aide: “We Are Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize.” “‘When you guys were all out there writing your Herman Cain stories, we were not following you into that sideshow,” one Obama aide said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. ‘We are keeping our eyes on the prize.'” (Helene Cooper, “The Flub Watch Never Stops For Obama’s Team,”The New York Times , 2/5/12)
  
                 PRESIDENT OBAMA’S STRATEGY: DIVIDE AND CONQUER

THEN: In 2008, Obama Told Ohioans That He Would “Put An End To The Politics That Would Divide A Nation Just To Win An Election.” OBAMA: “In two days, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.” (Senator Barack Obama, Remarks, Columbus, OH, 11/2/08)

NOW: “Today, Obama’s Campaign Is Very Much Playing The Usual Political Game Of Divide And Conquer.” “With Obama, though, we have more of a special case. This is the guy, after all, who eight years ago created his political brand with a stemwinder of a Democratic National Convention speech decrying the divisiveness of politics, and who four years ago ran a campaign defined by a positive vision of ‘hope’ and ‘change.’ Today, Obama’s campaign is very much playing the usual political game of divide and conquer.” (Aaron Blake, “Can The Campaign Of ‘Hope’ Go Negative?” The Washington Post , 4/9/12)

• “The Stark Change In Tone Is Notable.” “It has gone with a populist message that is already being used to cast Mitt Romney as the candidate of the elites. The campaign is also doing its best to make that case that the Republican Party is anti-woman, attempting to turn half the electorate on its opponent. Both are sound political strategies, to be sure, but next to the Obama campaign’s previous, more positive slogans, the stark change in tone is notable.” (Aaron Blake, “Can The Campaign Of ‘Hope’ Go Negative?” The Washington Post , 4/9/12)

• The Wall Street Journal : “It Is A Long, Long Way From His ‘There’s No Red America, There’s No Blue America’ Stuff Of 2004, Much Less The Inspiration Of 2008.” (Editorial, “Paul Ryan’s Hunger Games,” The Wall Street Journal , 4/4/12)

In A Speech About Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Budget Obama “Managed To Invoke Social Darwinism And A Trojan Horse In The Same Paragraph.” “Even in this hyperpartisan age, President Obama’s speech to the Associated Press yesterday was a parody of the form. This was a diatribe that managed to invoke ‘Social Darwinism’ and ‘a Trojan Horse’ in the same paragraph, amid the other high crimes that Mr. Obama says Paul Ryan wants to commit.”(Editorial, “Paul Ryan’s Hunger Games,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/4/12)

• Obama Called The GOP Budget A “Trojan Horse” That Is “Really An Attempt To Impose A Radical Vision On Our Country.” OBAMA: “This congressional Republican budget is something different altogether. It is a Trojan Horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plans, it is really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President At The Associated Press Luncheon , Washington, DC, 4/3/12)

• Obama: “It Is Thinly Veiled Social Darwinism” (President Barack Obama,Remarks By The President At The Associated Press Luncheon , Washington, DC, 4/3/12)

• “The President’s Depiction Of The Wonkish And Formerly Obscure House Budget Chairman As Some Political Monster Is Itself Telling.” (Editorial, “Paul Ryan’s Hunger Games,” The Wall Street Journal , 4/4/12)
• Obama Has Created A “Political Fable” To “Erase The Record Of The Last Three Years And Blame Every Current Anxiety On A GOP House That Has Been In Office For All Of 14 Months.” “All of this is a political fable carefully constructed to erase the record of the last three years and blame every current anxiety on a GOP House that has been in office for all of 14 months.” (Editorial, “Paul Ryan’s Hunger Games,” The Wall Street Journal , 4/4/12)

In A Recent Speech, Obama “Repeatedly Veered Of The Script Of His Prepared Remarks To Mock His Republican Opponents.” “At his event in Largo, Md., Obama was equally bellicose, if not quote [sic] as overtly electoral. Still, he repeatedly veered off the script of his prepared remarks to mock his Republican opponents and drive home his points.” (Glenn Thrush and Jennifer Epstein, “Kick-Off Day For Obama Campaign,”Politico, 3/15/12)

• “Among The Most Overt Ad-Libs: The ‘Professional Politicians, A Lot Of The Folks Who, You Know, Are Running For A Certain Office, Who Shall Go Unnamed’ Who Have Been Attacking His Plans For Alternative Energy Development.” (Glenn Thrush and Jennifer Epstein, “Kick-Off Day For Obama Campaign,”Politico, 3/15/12)

• Obama Mocked The Republican Presidential Candidates Comparing Them To “Members Of The Flat Earth Society” Because They Don’t Agree With His Green Energy Agenda. OBAMA: “Some of these folks want to dismiss the promise of solar power and wind power and fuel-efficient cars. In fact, they make jokes about it. One member of Congress who shall remain unnamed called these jobs ‘phony’ — called them phony jobs. I mean, think about that mindset, that attitude that says because something is new, it must not be real. If these guys were around when Columbus set sail, they’d be charter members of the Flat Earth Society.”(President Barack Obama, Remarks On Energy, Boulder City, NV , 3/21/12)