WE'RE SHOCKED, SHOCKED, AT SUCH ROUGHHOUSE POLITICS – AT 10:17 A.M. ET:   Apparently the president who called for a more civil atmosphere in Washington believes this applies to everyone but himself.  Of course, when you're a demigod, you make the rules.

The Politico reports that the Obama people plan an extremely rough campaign:

Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s re-election campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background, a strategy grounded in the early stage expectation that the former Massachusetts governor is the likely GOP nominee.

The dramatic and unabashedly negative turn is the product of political reality. Obama remains personally popular, but pluralities in recent polling disapprove of his handling of his job and Americans fear the country is on the wrong track. His aides are increasingly resigned to running for re-election in a glum nation. And so the candidate who ran on “hope” in 2008 has little choice four years later but to run a slashing, personal campaign aimed at disqualifying his likeliest opponent.

That "hope" stuff, it's so yesterday.  Now fear, on the other hand...that's cool.

In a move that will make some Democrats shudder, Obama’s high command has even studied President Bush’s 2004 takedown of Sen. John F. Kerry, a senior campaign adviser told POLITICO, for clues on how a president with middling approval ratings can defeat a challenger.

“Unless things change and Obama can run on accomplishments, he will have to kill Romney,” said a prominent Democratic strategist aligned with the White House.

COMMENT:  Real nice, huh?  Read the whole article for an indication of what they plan to do to Romney if he is the nominee.  The question is whether Romney has the guts to fight back.  John McCain, whom I admire, was the gentleman of the 2008 campaign, and it certainly did him a great deal of good. 

The Obamans are rough Chicago politicians.  They like to portray themselves as elegant, educated idealists, but underneath they're gut fighters who will do anything to win.  They also know what many Republicans can't seem to fathom, that the GOP isn't particularly popular, and can't expect to ride back into the White House on dissatisfaction with Obama. 

Republicans must give as good as they get if they are to survive next year's onslaught,

August 9, 2011