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Mitt Romney Campaign Ad Focuses On Weakly Attributed ‘Kill Romney’ Quote

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Former Gov. Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign fired back a response to Politico‘s piece on Team Obama’s “Romney Weirdness” strategy, but rather than focus on the Obama campaign’s repetitions of the “weird” theme, the ad focuses on a quote from an anonymous source, with no apparent connection to the campaign. The ad contrasts President Obama‘s call for civility earlier this year with ominous floating shots of a Time Swampland blog that put the “Kill Romney” quote in the headline.


The problem is, that quote doesn’t come from President Obama’s campaign, or from anyone remotely connected to it. Here’s the full quote, as attributed by Politico:

“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.

When using anonymous quotes, the object is to give the strongest (i.e. most credible) attribution possible, the one that best describes the subject’s authority on a given subject. If this strategist had any connection whatsoever with the Obama campaign, it would have been included in the attribution. “A strategist with ties to…,” or “with firsthand knowledge of…,” for example, would have been used. In this case, they’re simply saying this strategist is pointing in the same direction as the White House, which would describe just about every Democratic strategist.

It won’t be long before the words “Kill Romney” become the property of Barack Obama in the minds of conservative voters, and that’s really the point. Certainly, it is preferable to an ad in which Romney explains why he’s actually not that weird. If he had chosen to rebut any of the numerous quotes from named sources, that’s pretty much all he would have had to work with:

  • “First, they’ve got to like you, and there’s not a lot to like about Mitt Romney,” said Chicago Democratic consultant Pete Giangreco, who worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign. “There’s no way to hide this guy and hide his innate phoniness.”
  • “There’s a weirdness factor with Romney, and it remains to be seen how he wears with the public,” the adviser said, noting that the contrasts they’d drive between the president and the former Massachusetts governor would be “based on character to a great extent.”
  • “He was very, very good at making a profit for himself and his partners but not nearly as good [at] saving jobs for communities,” said David Axelrod, the president’s chief strategist. “His is very much the profile of what we’ve seen in the last decade on Wall Street. He was about making money. And that’s fine. But often times, he made it at the expense of jobs in communities.”
  • “There’s a question of public character,” said Axelrod. “Are you principled, consistent — are you who you say you are? Can you be counted on?”
  • “People already knew that he’s a political opportunist of the highest order — changing his positions to suit the day’s polling,” said Bill Burton, Obama’s former White House deputy press secretary who now heads Priorities USA, an independent group expected to lead Democratic attacks on the Republican nominee. “But the last couple weeks, this lack of principles has translated into a total lack of leadership on issues like the debt ceiling.”
  • “Presidential campaigns are like MRIs of the soul,” said Axelrod. “When he makes jokes about being unemployed or a waitress pinching him on the butt, it does snap your head back, and you say, ‘What’s he talking about?’”

The Romney campaign’s response isn’t all that surprising, but having suffered through John Kerry‘s 2004 bid, I’m not sure ads pointing out how mean the other guy is to you is the best strategy.

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  • Anonymous

    Good for Romney.

  • Anonymous

    There’s no point for them to do so. The Evangelicals would make sure he doesn’t become President. I remember one candidate entering the race last time, just for the purpose of not wanting to have a Mormon President. 

  • Anonymous

    Good Lord , Tommy . Burton and Axelrod quotes ? You couldn’t find two worse hacks than these two .

    Obama has been a nightmare on all fronts . His record is horrible . To keep the job , he has to “destroy ‘Mitt Romney , a good , capable , successful private citizen . He made his money the old fashioned way , unlike John Kerry , who has a face that looks like a foot with eyes , but still managed to marry his money .

    Even Kathleen Parker knows what the Dems are up to .
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/defining-weird/2011/08/09/gIQA3xrI5I_blog.html
     

  • Michelle

    A recent poll shows more Dems than Repubs wouldn’t vote for someone who’s a Mormon.  I think if it comes down to it and the choice is another 4 years of Ozero and a Mormon, they will choose the Mormon.  Maybe they will become more educated on Mormons in the process and lose the ill-informed bigotry.

  • Anonymous

    Right! like the Dems give a damn about what religion someone is. They were the first to select a Catholic when it wasn’t fashionable, had a woman front runner then a President with a biracial ethnicity. Go tell that to Huckabee and the Evangelicals. Perry is not in and he’s already the front runner. Why isn’t Mitt focused in Iowa? Its because its a lost battle. Admit it or not Mitts biggest problem is winning the Primary, if he can win that, then you might talk about the General. 

  • Anonymous

    I thought the Feds had no business creating jobs. So you want him to create jobs for you now? What happened to free market? they are still there making money overseas and not paying taxes. Its free market, so lets look and enjoy. The Govt are just there to pass laws for the Corporations to make money and sneak it in every 10yrs with that stupid amnesty (I remember they passed one under Bush and now pushing for another one. 

  • Michelle

    I’m getting tired of educating you libs.  How about this, instead of telling me I’m wrong, maybe research it first and see if I am.  It will help avoid embarrassing yourself.

    The new Gallup poll, conducted June 9-12, finds nearly 20% of
    Republicans and independents saying they would not support a Mormon for
    president. That is slightly lower than the 27% of Democrats saying the
    same

  • Anonymous

    Be delusional as much as you like, that’s your problem. The real Fact is Mitt lost last primary, Huckabee was his main antagonist, and his disdain for his religion was clear for all to see, that is a confirm poll. Huckabee last longer in that primary than Mitt. This time Perry or Michelle would take the Hucks place.

  • Anonymous

    Fact: Romney doesn’t need help because he will again be the polls best friend and will not be fighting for anything that takes guts!

  • Michelle

    Yes, I’m aware of the Huck’s disdain for Mormons.  That’s why he won’t ever get my vote.  As for Perry, I’m fine with either him or Mitt.  Both are WAY better than Ozero.  Mitt’s is polling ahead of the field so I think people may be getting over their ill-informed bigotry in the face of another 4 years of Barry. 

  • Anonymous

    Its amazing how you keep linking educating people against Mormon bigotry with your disdain for Obama. Are you OK? or you are just projecting your frustration towards him. You know people have despised the Mormons way before BO came along.

  • Anonymous

    Ya… you libs treat woman great.  No one attempt to site recent examples to the contrary. Libs are feminists…. not just lib supporters…. but “feminists”. Despite what “facts” you may be able to provide. ;)

  • Anonymous

    I bet you missed the part where “NOW” defended Bachman against Newsweek.

  • ImNotBlue

    Seriously?  Have you managed to miss every single one of Royal’s posts?  The guy is just about the loudest and more frequent poster from “your side,” and is a proud bigot when it comes to Mormonism.

    We see the writing on the wall, even if you choose to ignore it.

  • Anonymous

    You can pick that up with him. But I and everyone know that he didn’t join the campaign trail for the sole purpose of making sure a Mormon doesn’t become the President. You can deny that as much as you want, but History is easy to trace back.

  • Anonymous

    So now Tommy is trying to sell that Obama and his team are NOT running a smear strategy?

  • Anonymous

    Hey dink . Have you ever played the board game “Clue” in your village ?

    Well ,  don’t . You got no shot .

  • Anonymous

    Nope… I caught that. Would you like all the example of ugliness and hate spewed by the left AT conservative women. Including the joys of “hate#ucking”?

  • Valkyrie101

    It will be the other republican candidates that will go after Romney.

  • Valkyrie101

    Won’t be the dems trashing Romney but the other republican candidates.

  • Anonymous

    In that case you should apologize for all the bigotry, ignorance etc coming from the right.

  • Greg

    Those who lob bombs with glee look silly when flinching in the face of a foam volley.   

  • Greg

    Those who lob bombs with glee look silly when flinching in the face of a foam volley.   

  • Anonymous

    Do you mean when Obama’s team is done or will they be doing it at the same time?

  • Anonymous

    Did you watch the video of Obama asking for civility after Tucson?

  • Greg

    Calling Romney “weird” is as civil as politics can be.  

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000841936241 Matt Seegz

    Can’t “like” a second time.

  • ImNotBlue

    wel, il pick that up with him… because you, and so many of your left-wing allies on this site, are simply too scared or too dishonest to do it for yourselves.  How embarrassing it must be to allow his bigotry, and pretend you don’t see it.

    Anyway, perhaps there are some on the right who dislike him because he’s Mormon.  But that’s certainly not the majority position.  It seems to me that the only people making a big deal out of his religion, are the folks on the left who WANT it to be a big deal.  It’s essentially the “South Strategy” but with Mormonism.  Let’s call it the “Utah Strategy.”  Talk about his religion enough, in the context of “you guys won’t like this,” and hope that people don’t notice it’s the Democrats pulling the strings.

  • Jerry Baustian

    It’s an excellent ad — the first I’ve seen from Romney. It indicates that he is aware of what kind of campaign Obama is prepared to wage: the dirtiest in history.

  • Anonymous

    “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.

    OR…………..

    “IF things change and obama can run on accomplishments, the TEA Baggers will have to kill obama,” said a prominent Republicratic strategist aligned against the White House.

    And then replace the democrat statements with republicrats speaking about the obama-naut.

    “The problem is, that quote doesn’t come from President Obama’s campaign,
    or from anyone remotely connected to it. Here’s the full quote, as attributed by Politico:”

    Has obama come out and denied it? Has he given the “rhetoric” speech about it? Is Christopher slandering politio, a left wing media outlet of the administration?

  • Anonymous

    Liberals only hate black republicans and conservative mormons. Liberals keep electing Harry “THE MORMON” Reid while they keep hating on (Fmr) LTC. West! Look at all of the racist comments posted on this site regarding Herman Cain!

    And yes INB, RRE is a racist!

  • Anonymous

    “Everyone know”? Speak only for yourself liberal. You know anyone who voted for Nixon? Every liberal, like you, says no.

  • Anonymous

    hey jerkoff, check this out:  http://www.mediaite.com/tv/dan-savage-says-of-congressional-republicans-i-wish-they-all-were-fkin-dead-on-real-time/

    Where was NOW to defend THE FEMALE PANELIST and what those liberal heroes were saying about forced rape and sodomy in front of a woman? Yeah, she could have walked out, but she must be a strong woman to allow the heterophobic homosexuals to rant on, but the NOW gang Nazi’s should have at least supported her.

  • Anonymous

    Let skyfet go Michelle, before we both get banned… again!

    Like you once posted to me, it ain’t listening to you….

    God bless M.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WH3ZLMM7CUKUHUIMK4TKXW6SQE John

    I’m waiting for Tommy’s 2,000 word diatribe arguing that calling Romney “weird” is a religously bigoted dog whistle.  Oh wait, that would make the left look bad and Tommy is a partisan hack.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WH3ZLMM7CUKUHUIMK4TKXW6SQE John

    I’m waiting for Tommy’s 2,000 word diatribe arguing that calling Romney “weird” is a religously bigoted dog whistle.  Oh wait, that would make the left look bad and Tommy is a partisan hack.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Be/1751243136 Dave Be

    That poll asked whether or not they’d vote for a Mormon who had their party’s nomination.  The Democrat numbers in it are irrelevant to this election.  I know you want to bring them up to try to make Democrats seem more intolerant than Republicans, but that has no actual bearing on this situation.  Democrats do care what religion people are, but Skyfet was right about one thing: Romney first needs to secure the nomination.  The 20% of Republicans that said they wouldn’t vote for a Mormon, plus the Tea Party and others on the far right who are reluctant to vote for a guy who passed a universal healthcare law as governor and has espoused so many moderate positions on so many of their hot-button issues in the past, are the people Romney has to win over in order to do that. 

    Going on the offensive against Obama now is probably a smart move for him.  While the rest of the Republican field can safely go after each other for not being “conservative enough,” Romney can’t really do that.  What he can do is forge common ground with the far right based on their mutual distaste for President Obama.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Be/1751243136 Dave Be

    I really don’t think they mean his religion when they talk about him being weird.  The Obama campaign was very successful in 2008 at painting McCain as a rich guy out of touch with the common man.  Remember McCain forgetting how many houses he owns?  Romney is another stuffy rich white guy that regular people will have a hard time relating to, and I expect that to be the focus of the President’s campaign, not religion.  Don’t forget, the President isn’t on safe ground when he attacks someone on religion.  Jeremiah Wright has had 4 years to say more crazy stuff for Republicans to bombard the airwaves with if he tries.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Kidd/1672393350 JoeKidd

    Americans are citizens of The UNITED States of America — not Obama’s divided states of America. They belong to one race: The HUMAN race. And under their skin, they bleed ONE color. Now Obama may think he can get that color to run in the streets — but he’s wrong! You only separate colors when doing wash.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Kidd/1672393350 JoeKidd

    Americans are citizens of The UNITED States of America — not Obama’s divided states of America. They belong to one race: The HUMAN race. And under their skin, they bleed ONE color. Now Obama may think he can get that color to run in the streets — but he’s wrong! You only separate colors when doing wash.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Kidd/1672393350 JoeKidd

    The narcissist Obama wants reelection so bad, his media minions and Dem Party hacks are doing things “the Chicago Way.”

    But their eagerness to stir the pot of Hate provides visual proof that Obama’s “civility” is just another lie: YouTube is now flooded with videos of those on the Left who support Obama, their hate-filled pieholes open, foaming at the mouth.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Kidd/1672393350 JoeKidd

    The narcissist Obama wants reelection so bad, his media minions and Dem Party hacks are doing things “the Chicago Way.”

    But their eagerness to stir the pot of Hate provides visual proof that Obama’s “civility” is just another lie: YouTube is now flooded with videos of those on the Left who support Obama, their hate-filled pieholes open, foaming at the mouth.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Kidd/1672393350 JoeKidd

    The narcissist Obama wants reelection so bad, his media minions and Dem Party hacks are doing things “the Chicago Way.”

    But their eagerness to stir the pot of Hate provides visual proof that Obama’s “civility” is just another lie: YouTube is now flooded with videos of those on the Left who support Obama, their hate-filled pieholes open, foaming at the mouth.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Kidd/1672393350 JoeKidd

    Americans are fully awake now. They recall Barack Obama never even heeding his own “call for civility.” Americans are also sick and tired and disgusted by the vile vitriol and racist rhetoric coming from Obama’s Army of Hate. In his epic “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned of “drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” Today, Obama is eagerly serving up that cup.

  • Anonymous

    vote for dreg A or dreg B.  Go USA

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