“Just look at the narrative. Instead of talking about weak June jobs report, the media and voters are focused on Bain, Swiss bank accounts, and Romney not releasing his tax returns. Remarkable.”
“Straight from the Rove ’04 playbook, the Bain attack goes after Romney’s perceived strength, undermining the central rationale for his candidacy. The Romney campaign’s inept response has made it all the more devastating.”
“It is a terrible time to be running as an oligarch.”
“What else does Obama have other than attacking Romney?”
Somewhat effective
“It’s good for the base, but does it move independents?”
“It puts Romney on defense, and takes the conversation away from the economy, but I just don’t think most Americans are paying very much attention to any of this stuff right now, anyway. Romney is certainly acting like they’re not!”
“It’s helpful in some states, but only goes so far. Obama needs to reopen its earlier attacks on his record as governor.”
Is attacking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital an effective tactic for Democrats?
REPUBLICANS (102 VOTES)
Highly effective: 22%
Somewhat effective: 67%
Not effective: 12%
Highly effective
“It’s effective only because the Romney campaign has been so bad at responding.”
“Romney’s nom de guerre is as a business exec. If he flubbed that up (even slightly), makes him look more like a Fred Thompson and less like a Reagan.”
“The message is not particularly effective, but the fact that Romney seems totally incapable of responding is. Didn’t they know this was coming since about 1994?”
“Not substantively but politically, since it is a wide opening for Obama to define an as-yet-to-be-defined candidate. Seriously folks, release the tax returns and get on with it.”
Somewhat effective
“It’s effective, only because the Romney campaign is allowing it to be. Romney cannot run from Bain, yet that’s what the Obama campaign has got him doing.”
“If the election is about Bain, Obama wins. If it is about the economy, Romney wins. Very simple.”
“It beats anything else that might be talked about, but anyone moved by attacks on his business career are unlikely to vote Republican anyway.”
“The Bain attacks are sticking, but it is part of a larger narrative that is on the verge of defining him as an out-of-touch rich guy who doesn’t understand the problems middle-class families are facing. At the same time, Obama is doubling down on a strategy that will likely end in him being perceived as hostile to business.”
Not effective
“In the end, the election will be a referendum on Obama and the economy—not on Romney’s private-sector record.”
“Big investment by Chicago has not moved numbers in polls. ‘Liar’ and ‘felon’ are offensive words to independent voters.”
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Democratic Political Insiders Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Larry Grisolano, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Jim Manley, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Steve McMahon, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Michael Monroe, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O’Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jefrey Pollock, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, Ryan Rudominer, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.
GOP Political Insiders Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Brian Baker, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Alex Castellanos, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Jonathan Collegio, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Jay Cranford, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Ed Ingle, Jim Innocenzi, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, Steven Law, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Kevin O’Neill, Connie Partoyan, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Terry Sullivan, David Tamasi, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, Fred Wszolek, and Matthew Zablud.
This article appears in the July 21, 2012, edition of National Journal.
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