“The Florida primary will be a turning point in this race - the other side is looking at what could be months of brutal, negative tactics that turn people off to politics altogether,’’ Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a fund-raising pitch to supporters.
The Obama campaign’s most recent fund-raising report showed it had more than $80 million in the bank, a healthy sum for the coming year.
Democrats - and Obama specifically - are no stranger to drawn-out fights. Hillary Rodham Clinton did not drop out of the race until June 2008, but both candidates avoided driving up their negative ratings.
Obama’s team is trying to take advantage of the extra time in this election year, using the next several weeks to focus on his best political asset: being president. Obama is filling his time with a post-State of the Union agenda underscoring the themes of his reelection bid. That means pushing ideas with mainstream appeal, like helping struggling families refinance their homes or pay for college education for their children.
It also means not directly engaging Romney for now because to do so would make Obama look more like a presidential candidate than the man running the country.
But that has not stopped Obama from making not-so-subtle digs at Romney this week for his views on the auto industry bailout and home foreclosures.
“It is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom,’’ Obama said in Falls Church, Va., on Wednesday in a clear reference to comments Romney made to a Las Vegas newspaper last year.
Romney’s negative ratings have climbed in recent weeks. Polling by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal showed that 36 percent had a negative feeling toward Romney, compared with 31 percent having positive feelings for him. A separate poll by ABC News and the Washington Post found 49 percent had a negative impression of Romney, a jump of nearly 20 points since September.
