FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"Hope" and "change" may be a distant memory when it comes to President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.
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Politico reports the president's campaign will center on a "ferocious personal assault" on Mitt Romney's character and business background. This is based on the expectation that the Republican front-runner will be his party's likely nominee.
The president's aides have apparently been studying former president George W. Bush's 2004 takedown of Democratic Sen. John Kerry. Remember swiftboating and flip-flopping? As one Democratic strategist tells Politico, "Unless things change and Obama can run on accomplishments, he will have to kill Romney." Figuratively speaking.
Sources say there are two aspects to the strategy. The first is to go after Romney on a personal level as inauthentic, unprincipled and "weird."
The second is to go after the former Massachusetts governor's record as a businessman. He was CEO of the venture capital firm Bain Capital, which both created and eliminated jobs. The goal is to paint Romney as the picture of greed.
Romney's campaign describes this strategy as despicable, desperate and disgraceful. They insist there's nothing the president can do to make the election anything but a referendum on the economy. And they may very well have a point if things continue in the direction we're headed.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is pushing back against Politico's story saying anyone who claims to hold a "crystal ball" for their strategy doesn't speak for the campaign. And they claim that Romney is shedding "crocodile tears."
Let the games begin.
Here’s my question to you: Is destroying Mitt Romney the right way for President Obama to try to win a second term?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Ken in Seattle:
If Obama can't find a way to show some leadership, and soon, my aunt Mable will be able to beat him. The hope people voted for has turned out to be false hope. Hillary, we're going to need ya.
Kevin in California:
Wait! Now you're talking about ethics in politics. That's an oxymoron kind of thingy. Get a grip on yourself, Jack.
Harvey in Mississippi:
I don't see where Obama has much choice. With the deck constantly being stacked against an economic recovery, what else can Obama do? He's proven to be a lousy negotiator so I don't look for anything other than across-the-board cuts to come of the new "super committee" either. That'll just tank the economy more.
Rahn in Minnesota:
The change from the positive theme "Hope and Change" in 2008 to the negative theme "Destroy Mitt Romney" theme in 2012 tells you all you need to know about why President Obama's ratings are tanking fast.
David in Tampa:
It is a sad state of affairs but we have elected our presidents over the past few decades based solely on whoever does the best hatchet job on the other guy.
Loren:
If that's the president's plan, then he didn't learn anything from his own victory. What he needs to watch out for is the sleeper, not the front runner. If Romney gets the Republican nomination, then the Republicans have lost already, because the voters will be looking for more change than what Romney is offering.
Evan on Facebook:
Whether it's the right way or the wrong way is effectively irrelevant because it might be the only way.