Obama Inaugurates Negative Campaign

With an anemic economy showing few signs of recovery and almost no achievements under his belt, other than nabbing bin Laden, Obama is expected to wage a "negative" reelection campaign, focusing on the faults of his opponents. As such, the initial salvo fired by Obama's political strategist, David Axelrod, in response to the Republicans' debate on Thursday (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20091630-503544.html), came as no surprise:

"Axelrod, in an appearance on CBS' 'The Early Show,' blasted the candidates' performances in Thursday night's Republican debate, and took particular aim on the eight Republicans' unanimously expressed opposition to accepting tax increases as part of a deal to reduce the deficit.

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Axelrod also took aim at Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is expected to make clear his intention to run for president in a South Carolina speech on Saturday. Perry was not present at the Thursday debate - nor is he on the ballot for Saturday's straw poll - but he is likely to emerge as an immediate frontrunner if and when he does get into the race.

When asked to comment on Perry's criticism of President Obama's jobs record, Axelrod noted that 'he's also called for secession from the United States of America and all kinds of other things.'"

I have no affinity for any of the current Republican candidates, but it is sad to think that the Democrats' 2012 focus will be on mud slinging as opposed to 2008's "change we can believe in."