◼ Barack Obama, his job approval languishing in the low 40s, delivered a much heralded speech in Osawatomie, Kan., framing the choice between the parties in class-warfare terms. - Michael Barone/Human Events
It's hard to see how this thin gruel is going to strike independent voters as (to use Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election theme) a bridge to the 21st century. And it's notable that Obama scarcely made reference to the Democrats' signal legislative accomplishment, Obamacare.
He has thrown away his image, established in his 2004 convention speech and maintained through the 2008 campaign, of a compromise-minded conciliator....
On the Republican side, the oft-proclaimed and oft-dislodged frontrunner Mitt Romney moved from running a risk-averse campaign to a tactic that is highly risky -- launching negative attacks on one opponent in a multi-candidate race.
Romney's Granite State firewall is looking dangerously weak. "If Romney loses New Hampshire," writes longtime election analyst (and George W. Bush cousin) John Ellis, "the Romney campaign collapses in a heap."
...The obvious dynamic in the Republican race this year is that many voters, particularly those who identify with the tea party movement, are casting about for an alternative to Romney. At the moment they're delighted at the prospect of Gingrich debating Obama.
Romney's negative attacks are an attempt to get them to focus on the qualms many former Gingrich colleagues have about him. It's a risky move, but probably not as risky as Obama's.
