April 12, 2012--Going Negative

During the same week that Mitt Romney effectively won the Republican nomination--Rick Santorum "suspended" his campaign--various Super PACs that support Romney announced that they are about to launch a wave of TV ads in all the swing states. If you live in places such as Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, or New Mexico, brace yourself for the best (actually worst) that Karl Rove and his Super PAC, American Crossroads, are preparing to hurl at Barack Obama.

American Crossroads is primarily funded by Houston builder Bob Perry who put millons behind the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (my italics) that savaged John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Rove-Perry's favorite strategy when on the attack is to take their opponent's greatest strength and turn it into a liability.

In the case of the Bush-Kerry race, they knew that Bush had a problem seeming macho and militaristic because of his less-than-heroic years service during the Vietnam War in the Texas National Guard. He was mainly stationed in his home state in a decidedly non-combat role, even apparently many times partying and going AWOL; while Kerry actually was in Vietnam, actually in combat, actually wounded, and actually earned medals for courage and bravery while under enemy fire.

To deal with this "problem," or truth, Rove-Perry found Nam veterans who allegedly spend time there with Kerry and paid them to appear on TV ads, claiming that because he "lied" about his service on Swift Boats, he was "unfit to be President."

In fact, none of them served directly with Kerry and all but one veteran who actually did were enthusiastic supporters of Kerry, standing at his side during the 2004 Democratic convention.

But the ads were effective--Bush came off as a warrior while Kerry looked like an effete, dishonest wimp. And . . . Bush was reelected.

So get ready Barack Obama!

Expect to see your Chicago minister Rev. Jeremiah Wright resurrected; expect to see the reemergence of the birthers; expect to hear about your cavorting with "radicals" while at Harvard; expect to see photos of yourself dressed in African garb; expect to hear how you reject American "exceptionalism" and travel the world "apologizing for America."

But since Obama and his PAC groups know this is coming they won't be swiftboated. In fact, expect them to go negative as soon as possible.

Those of us who have been paying attention to the Republican nomination process--a distinct minority of voters--already know lots of "negative" things about Romney. But the vast majority of the electorate barely know him. They will begin to pay attention to him and the race during or shortly after the GOP convention. That will be the time when the Obama people will go after him and trade negative attacks. We may not like any of this, but it is inevitable when huge ambitions clash.

Obama has already been swiftboated--during the last campaign and through all of his presidency. We've heard "you lie" shouted at him during his first State of the Union; we've heard all about his birth certificate; we've heard about Rev. Wright; we've heard about Obama not being a Christian; we've heard about his black racism. There is not much more to lie about.

Now it will be Romney's turn.

Those who will be getting to know him for the first time will learn about his days at Bain Capital and his 14 percent tax bracket; they will learn about his plan to have 11 million illegal immigrants "self-deport"; they will learn about how "companies are people" and how he "enjoys firing people"; and of course they will learn about how he drove his family from Massachusetts to Canada with his dog strapped on top of his car. And then there is that picture of him with his Bain colleagues posing and grinning with hundred-dollar bills stuffed in their pockets.

Romney should be careful about casting the first stone, but he should be sure to duck.