Romney?s Misleading Israel Ad

The truth sure is a slippery thing in the 2012 campaign.

While it's hard to remember who did what first, Romney took?an early step down the low road? when he quoted President Obama in a television ad late last year: "If we keep talking about the economy we're going to lose.'' Only the quote was from 2008, before Obama was elected, and he was referring to remarks by Republican John McCain. More recently, the Obama campaign has unfairly characterized Romney's position on abortion?in television ads.
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But Romney's most recent ad is particularly galling because it seeks to suggest the president is anti-Israel or anti-Jewish. "Who shares your values?''?the spot demands, chiding Obama for failing to visit Israel during his first term and for "refusing'' to recognize Jerusalem as the capital.

Romney should have touted his own recent trip to Israel?though it was light on policy details?and stopped there. Instead, he put money into advertising that implies something sinister behind Obama's policies, even though plenty of?news outlets cried foul?when he first started raising these issues.

Former Republican Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan never visited Israel during their presidencies, and George W. Bush didn't go until the last year of his second term.?And like his Democratic and Republican predecessors,?Obama has described Jerusalem as the capital, but signed waivers putting off moving the U.S. embassy because it would inflame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Romney's campaign clearly knows these facts did not employ more nuanced and honest criticism of the administration's failure to broker peace in the Middle East. That's a shame.

?Beth Reinhard

NATIONAL JOURNAL?S PRESIDENTIAL RACE REPORT

Top Obama Aide Got $100,000 Fee to Address Firm With Iran Ties
[Washington Post, 8/5/12] David Plouffe, a senior White House advisor who was Obama?s 2008 campaign manager, accepted a $100,000 speaking fee in 2010 from an affiliate of a company doing business with Iran?s government. There are no legal or ethical restrictions on the incident, but the report will play into Romney?s accusations that the administration is soft on Iran.

Romney Victory Fund Tops $100 Million in July
[National Journal, 8/6/12] A joint fundraising committee including the Republican National Committee, the Romney campaign and several state parties raised about $101.3 million in July, the?campaign reported?Monday.

RNC Speakers Include Rick Scott, John McCain, Condoleezza Rice
[Tampa Bay Times, 8/6/12] Headline speakers at the Republican National Convention in Tampa will include Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. John McCain, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and more. ??

Romney?s Top Strategist is a Steroid-Dabbling, Screenwriting Bon Vivant NEW!
[The New Republic, 8/2/12] Meet Stuart Stevens, Romney?s top strategist, a former ?Northern Exposure? writer and exercise freak who approaches politics as an all-consuming, quasi-physical challenge. Also: his book editor tells TNR that he planned to vote for Obama in 2008, a claim Stevens denies.

Chait: This Video Proves Romney Knows His Whole Campaign Is a Lie NEW!
[New York, 8/6/12] Romney is basing his candidacy on the claim that President Obama should be blamed for this country?s economic woes of the last three years. But while stumping for President Bush in 2004, he said the president should not be blamed for the ?perfect storm? caused the economic strife.

Romney Persona Non Grata In Italy For Bain?s Deal Skirting Taxes NEW!
[Bloomberg, 8/6/12] While Romney was in charge of Bain Capital, the firm made $1 billion in a leveraged buyout of a telephone-directory company, which it bought from the Italian government. Bain funneled its profits through subsidiaries in Luxembourg to avoid paying income taxes in other European countries.

New Romney Ad Hits Obama Over New Unemployment Numbers NEW!
[TPM, 8/6/12] After a dismal jobs report last week, the Romney campaign came out with another ad called, ?It?s Just Not Getting Better.? The ad says that Romney has ?a plan for a stronger middle class.?

Pelosi: 'It Is A Fact' That Somebody Told Harry Reid About Romney Not Paying Taxes NEW!
[Huffington Post, 8/6/12] Even after RNC Chairman Reince Priebus' ?tripling down? on his ?dirty liar? comments against Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is defending her colleague. On Monday, she told HuffPo that Reid?s statement was true and that ?it is a fact? someone told him about Romney.

WH Press Corps Goes Seven Weeks Without a Question NEW!
[White House Dossier, 8/6/12] President Obama has not taken a major question from the White House Press Corp in nearly seven weeks, according to this count?not since June 20 at the G20 summit in Mexico.

Presidential Campaigns Turn to Tech to Engage Voters
[Columbus Dispatch, 8/6/12] Keeping up with technology is important for the GOP this year after Obama?s 2008 run was hailed as an innovator for technology in campaigns. As the Romney camp released the ?Mitt?s VP? app for both iPhone and Android last week, Team Obama also released a comprehensive app for donating and canvassing.

Outside Cash in Missouri Could Be a National Model
[New York Times, 8/5/12] Karl Rove?s Crossroads GPS, David and Charles Koch?s Americans for Prosperity, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the 60 Plus Association have dumped as much as $15 million into the state since July 2011 to keep incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill on her heels.

Obama, Romney Punctuate Their Ohio Campaigns With Brackets
[Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/6/12] With Ohio a key prize in the race for the White House, the candidates are punctuating their arguments in the state with ?bracketing? ? a strategy in which one candidate attempts to stomp on another?s message of the day with carefully coordinated publicity strikes.

Why Military Groups are Fighting Obama?s Ohio Voter Suit
[BuzzFeed, 8/5/12] More than a dozen military groups have intervened in a lawsuit filed by Obama?s campaign challenging the fairness of Ohio?s early voting rules that allow families of armed forces members and civilians overseas to vote through the Monday before an election. The campaign argues that members of the military don?t deserve special treatment.

A D?tente Before the Election
[New York Times, 8/5/12] Richard Hasen argues that we are dealing with the relatively small ? though very real -- problem of voter fraud in the country in an irrational and partisan way.

Romney, Caught in a Housing Bust, Got Property Tax Cut in La Jolla
[Los Angeles Times, 8/5/12] The Romneys may be rich, but even they are not immune to the real estate crisis. After paying cash for a Mediterranean-style house with 61 feet of beach frontage in La Jolla, they asked San Diego County for dramatic property tax relief.

Conventions Lose Appeal For DC Lobbyists
[Roll Call, 8/6/12] The sluggish economy, new restrictions on contributions, and anti-corporate sentiment ? not to mention fewer Members of Congress attending -- has zapped the fun out of the Republican and Democratic national conventions for political players. ?

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/romney-misleading-israel-ad-085816252.html

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