With A Record Of More Unemployment, Higher Debt, And Less Hope, Obama Prepares To “Make A Big Election About Small Things”

Candidate Obama: “Because If You Don’t Have Any Fresh Ideas, Then You Use Stale Tactics To Scare The Voters. If You Don’t Have A Record To Run On, Then You Paint Your Opponent As Someone People Should Run From. You Make A Big Election About Small Things.” (Senator Barack Obama, Address Accepting The Presidential Nomination At The Democratic National Convention, Denver, CO, 8/28/08) 

OBAMA DOESN’T HAVE A RECORD TO RUN ON

Obama’s Own Strategists Say They Can’t Focus On Obama’s “Spotty” Record. “But as he and the Republican field launch the active, above-ground phase of the 2012 presidential campaign, Obama’s strategists are planning to focus less on his record –- which is spotty at best -– than on what they regard as the frightening prospect of a Republican Party not only of wrong but medieval thinking.” (Howard Fineman, “Obama Aide Discusses 2012 Campaign Strategy,” The Huffington Post, 9/6/11)

• The Washington Post’s Fact Checker: “Obama Is On Track To Have The Worst Jobs Record Of Any President In The Modern Era.” “Unless the economy turns around in the next 18 months, Obama is on track to have the worst jobs record of any president in the modern era. That would be an accurate statement.” (Glenn Kessler, “Rick Perry’s Claim That Obama Has ‘Killed More Jobs’ Than Any Other President,” The Washington Post’s “The Fact Checker,” 8/22/11)
• Politifact: “Obama Is The Undisputed Debt King Of The Last Five Presidents.” “So by this measurement — potentially a more important one — Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents, rather than the guy who added a piddling amount to the debt, as Pelosi’s chart suggested.” (“Nancy Pelosi Posts Questionable Chart On Debt Accumulation By Barack Obama, Predecessors,” Politifact, 5/19/11)
• Throughout 2011, Only 17% Of Americans Said They Were Satisfied With The Direction The Country Has Been Headed. “Throughout 2011, an average of 17% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the United States.” (Jeffrey M. Jones, “U.S. Satisfaction In 2011 Ranks As Second Lowest Since 1979,” Gallup, 12/22/11)
  • “That Is The Second-Lowest Annual Average In The More Than 30-Year History Of The Question, After The 15% From 2008.” (Jeffrey M. Jones, “U.S. Satisfaction In 2011 Ranks As Second Lowest Since 1979,” Gallup, 12/22/11)

Democrat Pollsters Pat Caddell And Doug Schoen: Obama Can Only Win By Running “The Most Negative Campaign In History.” “Put simply, it seems that the White House has concluded that if the president cannot run on his record, he will need to wage the most negative campaign in history to stand any chance. With his job approval ratings below 45% overall and below 40% on the economy, the president cannot affirmatively make the case that voters are better off now than they were four years ago. He—like everyone else—knows that they are worse off.”(Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen, “The Hillary Moment,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/21/11)

“Democrats Say The Man Who Ran On Hope And Change In 2008 Will Have To Claw His Way Toward A Second Term With A Sharply Negative Campaign.” (Charles Babington, “Tough Economic Climate As Obama Seeks 2^nd Term,” The Miami Herald, 9/5/11)

• With Americans Disapproving Of His Job Performance And Believing The Nation Is On The Wrong Track, Obama Is “Resigned To Running For Re-Election In A Glum Nation.” “Obama remains personally popular, but pluralities in recent polling disapprove of his handling of his job and Americans fear the country is on the wrong track. His aides are increasingly resigned to running for re-election in a glum nation.” (Ben Smith And Jonathan Martin, “Obama Plan: Destroy Romney,” Politico, 8/9/11)

“And So The Candidate Who Ran On ‘Hope’ In 2008 Has Little Choice Four Years Later But To Run A Slashing, Personal Campaign Aimed At Disqualifying His Likeliest Opponent.” (Ben Smith And Jonathan Martin, “Obama Plan: Destroy Romney,” Politico, 8/9/11)

SO OBAMA IS PREPARING TO MAKE A BIG ELECTION ABOUT SMALL THINGS 

The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus: “Forget Hope And Change,” Obama’s Campaign Is Based On “Fear And Loathing.” “Forget hope and change. President Obama’s reelection campaign is going to be based on fear and loathing: fear of what a Republican takeover would mean, and loathing of whomever the Republican nominee turns out to be. Of course the Obama campaign will attempt to present the affirmative case for his reelection, citing legislative achievements, foreign policy successes and the current flurry of executive actions. But his strategists have clearly concluded that selling the president will not be enough, and the contours of the ugly months ahead are becoming increasingly apparent.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Campaign 2012: Welcome To The Slugfest,” The Washington Post, 11/2/11)

• Obama’s Negative Campaign “Is A Strategy Born Of Necessity” With A Less Than Enthusiastic Democrat Base And A Weak Economy. “The stepped-up aggressiveness of the attacks on the GOP field is a strategy born of necessity for the Obama campaign. With a still-struggling economy and a base that remains less than enthused about the 2012 election, Obama must turn the race into a choice between two candidates, as opposed to a referendum on his first four years in office.” (Chris Cillizza And Aaron Blake, “Obama Campaign Goes On Attack,” The Washington Post’s “The Fix,” 10/3/11)
• Obama Will “Run A Much More Negative Campaign” To Combat A Jobless Rate That Has Not Allowed For A President’s Reelect “Since The Great Depression.” “The jobless rate will stand at levels that have not led to a president’s re-election since the Great Depression. Largely because of that, Obama will run a much more negative campaign, his aides acknowledge, even if it threatens to demoralize some supporters who were inspired by his 2008 message of hope.” (Charles Babington, “2012 Race Likely To Be Close, Tough, Maybe Brutal,” The Associated Press, 11/5/11)

Obama’s 2012 Strategy “Will Be More Accusatory, Alarm-Filled And Defensive” Than 2008. “The strategy will be more accusatory, alarm-filled and defensive than the one used during the uplifting, even joyous campaign of 2008, symbolized as it was by depicting the first letter of the candidate’s name as a rising sun.” (Howard Fineman, “Obama Aide Discusses 2012 Campaign Strategy,” The Huffington Post, 9/6/11)

“If 2008 Was About ‘Yes, We Can,’” 2012 Will Be About “Why We Couldn’t.” “If 2008 was about lifting Mr. Obama up, 2012 will have at least some strong element of dragging down his Republican opponent (who the campaign believes will most likely be Mitt Romney). If 2008 was about ‘Yes We Can’ and limitless possibility, 2012 will be to some degree about why we couldn’t (‘Republican intransigence’), and why we shouldn’t, at least when it comes to anything the Republican nominee proposes (‘His party got us here in the first place’).” (Jim Rutenberg, “Team Obama Gears Up For 2012,” The New York Times, 11/26/11)

AND WILL TRY TO PAINT HIS OPPONENT AS SOMEONE TO RUN FROM

Watch “Morning Joe” Discuss Obama’s Negative Campaign Strategy

Time’s Mark Halperin: “Look we have a recent example of somebody who talked like this, Barack Obama, he got elected, but he also ran more negative tv ads than anyone has run in the history of the world against John McCain. Barack Obama’s campaign and allies will run more negative ads against this Republican nominee in 2012 than have ever been run in the history of the world.”  (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 6/22/11)

• Halperin: The Republican Nominee Will Have To Deal With “Over $500 Million In Negative Ads.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 6/22/11)

Obama “Must Begin Aggressively Attacking Republicans Now To Overcome The Hurdles In The Way Of His Re-Election.” “The comments suggest Mr. Obama and his political aides believe he must begin aggressively attacking Republicans now to overcome the hurdles in the way of his re-election: a 9.1% unemployment rate, a lethargic Democratic base, disengaged independent voters and energized Republicans.” (Carol E. Lee and Jonathan Weisman, “President Goes On The Attack Early,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/27/11)

2012 Will Be About “Dragging Down His Republican Opponent” Rather Than Lifting Obama Up. “If 2008 was about lifting Mr. Obama up, 2012 will have at least some strong element of dragging down his Republican opponent (who the campaign believes will most likely be Mitt Romney).” (Jim Rutenberg, Op-Ed, “Team Obama Gears Up For 2012,” The New York Times, 11/26/11)

Obama “Needs To Start Bruising His Opponent” Before He Has One. “More accurately, it reflects the political calculus that if Obama wants to win next year, he can’t wait for the GOP to crown a nominee. He needs to start bruising his opponent now.” (Sam Youngman, “Obama ‘Can’t Wait’ To Fight Romney,” The Hill, 11/2/11)

• Obama Ignored His Plans To Stay Out Of The Republican Nomination Contest And Already Gone Negative Against His Potential Opponents. “President Barack Obama has sharpened his line of attack against Republicans during a West Coast swing and injected himself into the GOP presidential-nomination fight, setting aside his plans to stay out of the 2012 campaign until an opponent is selected.” (Carol Lee And Jonathan Weisman, “President Goes On The Attack Early,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/27/11)

Obama Is Allowing His Aides To Push Brutal Character Attacks On His Opponents. “The early salvos are also familiar moves in a strategy that has worked in each of the four federal campaigns Obama has run: disqualifying character attacks from aides or outsiders, executed brutally as Obama himself floats above the fray.” (Ben Smith, “Obama’s Style: Go Negative, Stay Clean,” Politico, 11/3/11)