Health & Fitness
Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail
Candidates don't always need to campaign to the center to win.
Think back to the George Bush re-election campaign of 2004. To the astonishment of the media, President Bush was running to the right in the general election.
Everyone knows that you run to the center in a general, right?
Pundits were forced to acknowledge the effectiveness of the Bush strategy following his win. The President was "underwater," (more unpopular than popular) with independent voters. That meant he needed to drive up his Republican turn-out, in the hopes of overcoming the lack of enthusiasm among Independents.
That means negative campaigning on steroids.
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post says President Barack Obama faces the same uphill climb and defines the fear and loathing strategy that is already being deployed.
Read the article to the end of a couple more interesting tidbits: Obama advisers believe any Republican will get 47 percent of the vote, they think that Mitt Romney is the tougher opponent, but also say that Rick Perry has his advantages.