Weigel

Hey, Everybody, Obama’s Bragging About bin Laden Again!

The Obama campaign’s two-minute look back at the bin Laden raid was just that – a mini-documentary, intended for the wags. But this new 30-second ad is intended for a general audience, and for TV. In it, Obama goes for another bin Laden raid three-pointer right in the middle of a discussion of veterans. “It’s because of what they’ve done,” he says, “that we’ve been able to go after Al Qaida and kill bin Laden.”

So far I don’t see the Romney campaign taking the bait. Their response to the ad is all on their preferred message – the horrid economy. Reporters are being fed headlines like “Veterans’ Advocates Call Increased Fees ‘A Significant Breach Of Faith’ With Military Retirees,” in the hopes that they’ll spin the ad that way.

Has the Romney campaign evolved? Like Ultron,* has it learned its opponents’ strengths and weaknesses and decided to attack in a new way that denies them the high ground?

UPDATE: Joe Arends of the Veterans for a Strong America PAC responds:

President Obama’s ad is a shocking burst of election year induced humility from a president who knows he crossed the line several weeks ago when he used the killing of Bin Laden as ammunition for his re-election campaign.  In an ABC News report, Team Obama admitted they crossed the line and took too much credit for the killing of Bin LADEN after the Veterans for a Strong America ad went viral.  At the same time, this President’s campaign rhetoric does not change the fact that he wants military retirees to pay more for their healthcare, wants to lay off over a 125,000 troops during a time of rampant unemployment for veterans and wants to cut our military by over 1 trillion dollars which according to Secretary of Defense Panetta will result in up to 1 million lost jobs.

*or Doomsday