Good news for negative ad producers: imputing other people’s words onto rival politicians is a legit strategy in 2012!
Mitt Romney is under a hailstorm of criticism in the press today for his latest anti-Obama ad, which cuts up a clip of President Obama quoting a Republican strategist in 2008 to make it appear that the line in question is Obama’s. But the campaign is defending the spot despite virtually universal condemnation from independent fact checkers.
The ad in question draws from a clip of Obama in 2008 quoting a McCain aide as saying “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” The Romney ad lops off the president’s explanation of the source, presenting it as Obama’s own words.
Per CBS News, Romney New Hampshire advisor Tom Rath is fine with it:
Romney senior New Hampshire adviser Tom Rath tells CBS News the ad is “exactly what we want.”
“They were using McCain’s words to make fun of McCain. And we’re using the exact same technique,” he said.
Pressed on whether it was unfair to lop off the top of Mr. Obama’s comments — which would show the president was quoting the McCain camp — Rath said, “He did say the words. That’s his voice.”
He then [suggested] that the more people discuss the ad, the better it is for the Romney campaign.
This, of course, could be problematic for Romney. There are plenty of clips of him quoting folks he disagrees with that are now ripe for the taking.
