CINCINNATI —
President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies aren’t waiting for Republican Mitt Romney to reveal his vice presidential choice. They’re already trying to scuff up those considered by political insiders to be most likely to join the GOP ticket.
The president’s campaign started swinging at the potential Republican running mates this week while urging home-state Democrats to chime in about the shortcomings that — as emails to donors and supporters put it — “Americans need to know.” The pre-emptive strikes are an effort to define a possible No. 2 in a negative light and reflect a sense that time is precious to sway opinion in a stubbornly close presidential race dashing quickly toward November.
Tim Pawlenty? The former Minnesota governor is a fee-raiser whose record “is painful for the middle-class families who lived under his leadership,” the Obama campaign argues.
Rob Portman? The Ohio senator is “one of the architects of the top-down Bush budget” that the Obama team blames for “crashing our economy.”
Marco Rubio? The rookie Florida senator has “led the way on almost every extreme position Mitt Romney has embraced,” according to the missive that seeks examples of “the good, the bad and ugly” of Rubio.
Chris Christie? There’s “no lack of material to work with” about the pugnacious New Jersey governor.
Bobby Jindal? The Louisiana governor and former congressman tried to harm Social Security and Medicare and “had the same issues with secrecy and lack of transparency as Mitt Romney.”
Those views are far from how Republicans regard the group.
As many in the GOP see it, Pawlenty is extolled for his blue-collar appeal and budget restraint during eight years as governor; Portman is praised for a vast portfolio of experience and as someone who could help deliver a critical swing state; Rubio is a rising star who could help attract Hispanic voters; Christie is willing to take on entrenched interests and big problems no matter whom he offends; and Jindal is a diverse face who saw his state through a major oil spill and has built a reputation as a budget and education reformer.
Romney’s campaign criticized Obama for seeking the critiques. They are little more than “negative smear campaigns against the possible GOP vice presidential nominees,” Ohio-based spokesman Chris Maloney said.
It’s not just the Obama operation that’s trying to tar the Republicans. Local Democratic officials in contested states aren’t letting visits by the would-be vice presidents go unchecked. In conference calls, they try to draw attention to what they say are the Republicans’ flaws, then quickly deliver biting assessments when one of them campaigns in a battleground state. Independent groups sympathetic to Obama are piling on as well.
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Obama supporters critique possible Romney VP choices
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