Old news soon forgotten

PJ:  When I look at various US media reports, both mainstream and blogs, a whole lot is being made about the negative tone of the US Presidential campaign and a whole lot of finger pointing is directed at President Obama's campaign.  The Romney camp is forever lamenting the attacks against them and Fox News, in particular, has accused the Obama campaign of setting new standards in negative campaigning.  Oh how quickly they forget.  Even John McCain has weighed in saying that Obama's attacks against Romney are unprecidented.  Wasn't Senator McCain's running mate the one who sponsored the "Pallin' around with terrorists" accusation against Obama which fostered a startling level of hate-filled rhetoric at her rallies--so much so that some of her fans yelled "kill him!" during her tirades?

And did they forget that it was only a few short months ago that the Romney campaign unleased a shocking number of attack ads against his Republican opponents during the primary race.  So many in fact, that voices on the right tried to get him to stop, desperately trying to convince those primary fighters that such attacks against each other would adversely affect the eventual nominee during the general election. 

Pro-Romney PAC Killing Machine With Attack Ads

By Heidi Przybyla -

It’s the latest attack spot sponsored by Restore Our Future, a so-called super-political action committee supporting Mitt Romney, aimed at derailing Santorum’s candidacy in Wisconsin by running more than 1,884 attack ads that the former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign says are misleading.

The commercial fits a pattern that has become a defining feature of the 2012 Republican presidential primary race. Since the contests began, Restore Our Future has spent $35 million on commercials attacking Santorum and Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker, the two candidates who have come closest to knocking Romney out of front-runner status, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political money. The super-PAC has spent just $1.1 million promoting Romney, the data shows.

“They need to demonize and destroy, they need to slash and burn their opponents,” said David Johnson, a Republican strategist from Atlanta who worked on former Senator Bob Dole’s presidential bid in 1988 and is unaffiliated with any candidate this cycle. “That’s the only way Romney can win” because he has “no base of support,” he said.

Read it at Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-27/pro-romney-pac-killing-machine-with-attack-ads.html