The alternative
by David Atkins
The Obama campaign has come out with a devastating six-minute web ad slamming Mitt Romney's record as a job destroyer. Most people won't watch a lengthy web video, of course, but the themes in it will be difficult for the Romney campaign to dispel as they're diced into 30-second commercials over the summer and fall.
The big question, though, is what exactly the President will offer as his own counternarrative. The stimulus and salvaging the American auto industry are helpful, of course. But given that the President has been cutting government jobs and preaching austerity economics himself, the anti-Romney message isn't going to be nearly as effective as it might have been.
And then there's the fact that it's bad policy. But since the Obama team has been a lot more worried about what would appeal to swing voters in Ohio, it's worth pointing out that austerity doesn't make for great politics, either. If one is going to oppose the Romneys of the world and their barbaric ideology, one has to present a compelling and significant contrast.
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