As a Romney supporter, this report concerns me.

Mitt RomneyÂ’s presidential campaign has television ads and mailings on standby to attack Rudy Giuliani but so far has not used them because of an internal dispute about the risks of a backlash in going negative on the Republican front-runner, according to numerous sources in and close to the Romney campaign.

With the first caucus and primary voting just seven weeks away, some of RomneyÂ’s top backers in early states said privately they are urging his high command in Boston to start drawing sharp and hard-hitting contrasts or risk letting the former New York mayor glide to the GOP nomination on the strength of his much higher national profile.

So far, the tough shots from Romney have not been fired. Some top strategists warn of a “murder-suicide” scenario, in which Romney might draw blood from Giuliani but get splattered himself if voters are turned off by attacks and take it out on the attacker.

Frankly, i see both sides on this one. Going too negative could hurt Romney with the voters -- one of the things i like about him has been his positive message about why he is the right candidate rather than negative attacks on other candidates. But at the same time, it is important to draw a contrast between yourself and you opponent -- and since Rudy's claim to fame is hwo he ran NYC, it is important to challenge him on it and show how there may be problems with that narrative.

The biggest danger, though, is giving ammo to the enemy. Think back to 1988, where a second-tier candidate named Al Gore sought to paint front-runner Michael Dukakis as soft on crime by highlighting the case of Willie Horton, a lifer granted regular weekend furloughs who used one to commit rape and murder in another state. Months later, that same material became devastatingly effective in the hands of surrogates for George H. W. Bush (and, eventually, the Bush campaign itself).

Still, I think that the Romney campaign must draw the distinction now -- and provided it maintains an overall positive tone, the Romney camp can afford to attack the front-runner.

Posted by: Greg at 11:02 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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