Rick Perry’s latest ad fires at multiple targets, including Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. But the first person it whacks is Newt Gingrich. And while most GOP primary voters will already know that Romney and Obama have both supported health care mandates in the past, the fact that Gingrich has also committed this most venal sin will probably be news, or a reminder of a dimly-noted fact, for all but the most high-information Republicans. As I argued earlier today, I think Newt’s lead–in Iowa and elsewhere–is probably more tenuous than it may now appear. As a good historian, Gingrich will know what happened to Napoleon when he advanced too far and too fast into the heart of Russia, overextending his supply lines. That’s what I see happening to Newt right now. Perry’s new broadside is just the latest reason.
-
Latest on Swampland
Political Picures of the Week, May 18-25
TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures of the past week from the Beltway and beyond.
From our PartnersObama Administration Blocks Global Health Fund To Fight Disease In Developing NationsHuffPost Politics
The Phony War: Obama and Romney Are Debating Character, Not Policy
More than five months from Election Day, the back-and-forth about Mitt Romney’s record at Bain already feels played out. Unfortunately, there’s good reason to expect the campaign continues in this vein indefinitely. Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are terribly interested in dwelling on policy platforms. Romney’s plan to slash spending and keep taxes low on the wealthy isn’t especially popular, at least not at any level of detail beyond a blithe promise to shrink the deficit. Meanwhile, Obama’s signature first-term achievements, like health care, the stimulus and Wall Street reform, are all unpopular or tricky to sell. (The Dodd-Frank bill is the most popular of these, but hyping it means offending wealthy donors.) So what we’re getting instead is a superficial duel about character–and, worse, one that’s based on the largely false premise that the better man can better “manage” the economy back to health.
