"they have the stench of a losing campaign" - GOP strategist

[DEATH ROW JOE]

GOP frets Romney is blowing race
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/25 ... -2012-race
Time’s running out and it’s not just one bad day here or there, it’s been two bad weeks. We should be playing offense,” one strategist said. “It just seems like they ought to be doing better, like they ought to be winning, and every day the last few weeks is a bit worse than the one before it. People are worried and frustrated.”

The strategist said there was still time for Romney to turn things around, particularly with the debates and two more unemployment reports. But he doesn’t see any evidence that Romney is ready to capitalize on his remaining chances.

“They look like a losing campaign, and Romney to me looks like a losing candidate, and that’s the problem — it’s the perception. The reality is the polls are still pretty close, but they have the stench of a losing campaign,” he said. “There are cascading controversies and problems and they’re drowning out any positive message Romney wants to put out there and any ability for Romney to do a sustained attack on Obama.”

[Turner Coates]

Romney tries to turn the tables

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120 ... ables.html

By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post

After two politically treacherous days, Mitt Romney is trying to right-side his campaign by focusing on something President Obama said 14 years ago.

The Republican presidential candidate has been battered by news coverage dissecting his assertion, caught on video, that "47 percent" of Americans feel entitled to government assistance. Now his aides believe they have stumbled upon a way to change the subject.

In a 1998 audio clip that surfaced online Tuesday afternoon, Obama is heard speaking at a conference at Loyola University in Chicago, where he suggested that society needed to come up with a plan to "structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody's got a shot."

At an Atlanta fund-raiser on Wednesday, Romney pounced on those comments, which Obama made when he was an Illinois state senator. Obama's speech, Romney said, indicated support for a European-style system that would never work in the United States.

"I know there are some who believe that if you simply take from some and give to others then we'll all be better off. It's known as redistribution," Romney told the crowd. "It's never been a characteristic of America."

White House press secretary Jay Carney called the newest GOP assault the sign of a "desperate" campaign that is having a "very bad week."

[DEATH ROW JOE]

Obama suggested that society needed to come up with a plan to "structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody's got a shot."

So now Romney is going after Obama for supporting public schools.

That will really turns things around for Mittens:

Latest Polls Wednesday, September 19
General Election: Romney vs. Obama Gallup Tracking Obama 47, Romney 46 Obama +1
General Election: Romney vs. Obama Pew Research Obama 51, Romney 43 Obama +8
General Election: Romney vs. Obama Associated Press/GfK Obama 47, Romney 46 Obama +1
General Election: Romney vs. Obama Rasmussen Tracking Obama 46, Romney 47 Romney +1
Ohio: Romney vs. Obama FOX News Obama 49, Romney 42 Obama +7
Florida: Romney vs. Obama FOX News Obama 49, Romney 44 Obama +5
Virginia: Romney vs. Obama FOX News Obama 50, Romney 43 Obama +7
Colorado: Romney vs. Obama CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac Obama 48, Romney 47 Obama +1
Virginia: Romney vs. Obama CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac Obama 50, Romney 46 Obama +4
Wisconsin: Romney vs. Obama CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac Obama 51, Romney 45 Obama +6
Michigan: Romney vs. Obama CNN/Opinion Research Obama 52, Romney 44 Obama +8