Here we go! The Obama re-election campaign has already figured out who they believe they’re going to face in the coming election and have already begun the process of targeting and defining Mitt Romney. The Obama campaign has launched a simple, but highly effective campaign website called WhichMitt.com which highlights Romney’s millions of flip-flops and bold-faced lies during just the last 4 years of him running for higher office.
A couple of things about this new message stand. First, he is following a fairly effective strategy for a weak incumbent, one that I discuss frequently in my book Political Consultants and Campaigns: One Day to Sell. Namely, that you know an incumbent’s own internal poll numbers are bad when they come out attacking first. Now to be fair, Romney has been going after Obama all year, but the administration knows they can’t run on accomplishments in the economy so the best bet is to define Romney as a flip-flopper who can’t be trusted early. Will it be effective? I’m not sure: Obama has been so weak in the leadership area for many Americans that he will have a hard time making Romney look worse. But if it’s going to be a knock-down drag out fight for the presidency, and Obama can land one or two punches early, he’ll be in better shape.
This article originally appeared on Politic365.com.
