The Hill's Jeremy Herb reports:
President Obama said that Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital was not a “distraction” in the campaign, as he defended for the first time Monday his campaign’s attacks Romney’s time at the private equity firm.
Obama’s offensive against Romney has been attacked repeatedly in the past two days after Obama surrogate Newark Mayor Corey Booker said that the attacks were “nauseating.”
“It’s not a distraction,” Obama said. “This is what this campaign is going to be about.”
Obama said that the goal of a private equity firm was to “maximize profits,” which Obama contrasted to his job as president.
“The reason this is relevant to the campaign is my opponent, Governor Romney, his man calling card for why he should president is his business experience,” Obama said at a press conference at the conclusion of NATO Monday.
The speed with which the Obama campaign has gone openly, broadly, and acutely negative shows that the president isn't quite as confident as was once thought.
There's another big risk for Obama.
Going negative so quickly threatens his personal popularity and his strength on personal attributes. Of course, Romney will probably get torn down, too, but Obama (more than Romney) is relying on his image to get him through this campaign.
