Trench Warfare

Since the general campaign opened May 5th, things have been happening fast and furious. First Obama's bin Laden ad with Romney expressing criticism of going into Pakistan infuriated the Republicans. Today, the Obama campaign launched a 2 minute ad in Swing States on Romney's at Bain Capital, showing how he destroyed GST. The key line was uttered by a former worker,"It was like watching an old friend bleed to death."


The Romney people, who have long anticipated this type of attack countered with an ad called "The American Dream" about how Romney saved Steel Dynamics. This was rebutted by the Obama Campaign who pointed out that Bain only had a minority stake in the company and that it received government subsidies and tax breaks to survive. 


By the end of the day Romney's people changed their statement he created 100,000s of jobs to thousands at Bain.


The Obama campaign has read the same polls everyone else have concerning the gender chasm and has exploited it through ads and posting what Obama has done for women on its website. Today, President Obama addressed the women of Barnard College and urged them not only to demand a place at the table but also to be head of the table. If you are Huffington Post, you think the key is his attacking the media,having replaced Jill Abrahamson, editor of the New York Times, as speaker. If you follow the recent debate over marriage equality, you hear his invocations of the key moments in the American civil rights movement--Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall. But if you are me, you hear his remarks on the digital generation and their prowess over us technological troglodytes.


Not without design, President Obama drew the indirect distinction between him and Mitt Romney, who spoke at Liberty University yesterday. Romney tried to bridge the gap between his Mormonism and the evangelical audience and invoked shared values and how these values sustained Western civilization. The culture war was on in earnest.


So far President Obama continues to direct the pace of the campaign. If you are a student of political campaigns, you'll notice how heavily the Obama campaign borrows its focus on Ted Kennedy's successful Senate run against Romney, a Romney then who was pro-choice and vowed to be more liberal on gays than Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy came from behind in that race because of the support from women. Apparently, that is an old Romney problem.


So we are treated to dueling Mother's Day ads by both candidates. 


Some things you can not anticipate in a campaign. Who knew about Romney being a bully in prep school? That his victim was probably gay only fed into the narrative set by President Obama with his declaration about same sex marriage. This incident set off a couple days of blather whether a bully would remember the incident, which Romney claims he doesn't. Then his apology by rote only compounded his problem. 


Does it really affect the election--no? But it does keep piling on details about a person of extraordinary privilege, who seems removed from reality. Even Doonesberry hit it off with a cartoon about one of his characters finally getting a job ask an operator of Romney's car elevator. Charles Pierce in Esquire called Romney the trust fund bully. With Seamus still in our memory, this all adds up and not in a good way. Romney has tried to share more "human" dimensions with his audiences but all are off-beat. He spoke about his niece getting help from her neighbors. Why didn't he help out.


Meanwhile on another planet Karl Rove has been airing millions of dollars worth of attack ads against President Obama, the latest on increasing the national debt. It was oh so much better under Karl's boss. But this doesn't seem to matter.


The Obama campaign jokes that the Republicans are hoping the American people will have amnesia by the time they vote. Unfortunately, they just might. Today's Gallup poll has Romney finally hitting a 51% favorability rating and being perceived by wide margins as most able to strengthen the economy. Ironic since JPMorgan just blundered with a gamble which will cost between $2 to 8 billion dollars. Romney has campaigned on repealing all of Dodd-Frank, which if the Volcker rule had been implemented would have prevented this latest error. Rinse Penis, the RNC Chairman, came out for less regulation on the banks. Romney modified his position to say only commonsense regulation. But it is unclear whether this return of the recent past will hurt the Republicans at all.


Reports from the field indicate that the Obama field operation is impressing even the pros. Former Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania has said that the operation is so pervasive Romney shouldn't even bother coming to Pennsylvania. Likewise, the large lead in Virginia has been bolstered by a growing field operation throughout the state. 


Why is this important? Because a key part of the Romney strategy is to force the Obama campaign to defend a state, which they have anticipated an easy victory in order to divert necessary resources. So far, this hasn't happened. The Obama campaign has launched a huge ad campaign in swing states, which have not been equally matched by Romney.


By mid-June, we should hit dry season and attention will evaporate until the conventions in the fall. Romney will capitalize on the 10th anniversary of the Salt Lake City Olympics to mount his largest rally and to create artificial momentum and the press will be obsessed with whom he picks as Vice President. So far insiders claim he wants a "ridiculously boring white male". The choices are Rob Portman from Ohio, TPaw Pawlenty from Minnesota, Mitch Daniel from Indiana and Governor McDonnell from Virginia. Depending on where Romney stands in Ohio, I expect Portman.