Obama and Romney

via yahoo news
WASHINGTON (AP) — He's a smug, Harvard-trained elitist who doesn't get how regular Americans are struggling these days. More extreme than he lets on, he's keeping his true agenda hidden until after Election Day. He's clueless
about fixing the economy, over his head on foreign policy. Who is he?
Your answer will help decide the next president.
Is it Barack Obama, as seen by Mitt Romney? Or Romney, the way Obama depicts him? For all their liberal versus
conservative differences, when the two presidential contenders describe
each other, they sound like they're ragging on the same flawed guy. Or
mirror images of that guy.
Will voters prefer the man waving with his left hand or his right?
Blame it on two cautious candidates with more traits in common than their disparate early biographies would suggest.
No Drama Obama is panned as professorial and aloof. Romney is deemed boring when he's not being awkward.
Distrusted as too moderate within his own party, each is demonized as a radical by the other side. They don't get specific about the tough stuff, like
budget cuts or taxes, that would invite more precisely calibrated
negative ads.
Add a presidential contest buried beneath a single
issue, the economy, and original lines of attack are scarce. The
candidates take jabs anyway.
"They're trying to define each other. That's what it's all about," said Ken Duberstein, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan. "They're throwing out different characterizations to see which one resonates."
With quickie Internet videos and instant comebacks via Twitter, "the attack
and counterattack is happening in real time," said political
communications expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson. "Campaigns are working to
make sure nothing is missed."
Attacks big or small get batted back, even if the response amounts to "I know you are, what am I?"
Democrats accuse Republicans of a "war on women," Romney's campaign notes rising female unemployment during the Obama years.
The Obama camp jokes about Romney's dog riding on the roof of the family
car; Republicans respond that Obama ate dog meat as a boy in Indonesia.
Both candidates are slammed as:
"Out of touch" with ordinary Americans.
Obama: Cloistered in the White House. Hangs out with celebrities, acting
"cool." Doesn't understand the real world because "he spent too much
time at Harvard," according to Romney, who earned two Harvard degrees
himself.
Romney: Grew up wealthy, with a governor for a father.
Worth $200 million or more. He's the kind of guy who had a Swiss bank
account and wants a car elevator for his beach house, the Democrats
note.
___
Bad for the middle class.
Obama: Failed to
deliver on his promises to help Americans "struggling to find good jobs
and make ends meet," the Romney camp says. Median household income is
down, unemployment up since he took office.
Romney: Wants to
reduce taxes on the wealthy while devastating Medicare and cutting
education, health care and other programs the middle class need,
Democrats charge. Obama says that amounts to "social Darwinism."
___
Suspiciously secretive.
Obama: Believing his microphone off, assured the Russian president he would
have "more flexibility" after Election Day. Obama will reveal "his true
positions only after the election is over," Romney says. Republicans
predict he would tack left on the environment, spending, gay rights and
other issues.
Romney: Told campaign donors of plans to cut or
eliminate the housing and education agencies as well as others — ideas
he hasn't disclosed publicly. "What's Mitt hiding?" Democrats ask,
demanding more about his personal tax returns and investments, too.
___
Too extreme.
Obama: Hopes to create "a European-style social welfare state," Romney says, and "put free enterprise on trial." Endorsing Romney, Newt Gingrich called Obama "the most radical, leftist president in American history."
Romney: Referred to himself as "severely conservative." He's "extreme on
women's issues," Democrats contend. Obama places him to the right of
Reagan and suggests he's akin to Barry Goldwater.
___
Unable to fix the economy.
Obama: Can't get the jobless rate below 8 percent. He "delayed the recovery
and made it anemic," according to Romney, who says Obama lacks the
private sector experience necessary to understand the economy.
Romney: As a venture capitalist, laid off workers and shipped jobs to Mexico,
the Obama campaign says. Also created Massachusetts jobs more slowly
than other governors of the time, Democrats note.
___
Not up to foreign policy.
Obama: Too weak to stand up to China or Russia or to stop Iran from getting a
nuclear bomb, and too eager to apologize for the United States, Romney
charges.
Romney: Likely to stumble into another misguided war,
according to Vice President Joe Biden. Wouldn't have had the guts to
send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden, the Obama campaign suggests.