President Obama's campaign has spent nearly $100 million on television commercials in selected battleground states so far, unleashing a sustained early barrage designed to create lasting, negative impressions of Republican Mitt Romney before he and his allies ramp up for the fall.

In a reflection of campaign strategy, more than one-fifth of the president's ad spending has been in Ohio, a state that looms as a must-win for Romney more so than for Obama. Florida ranks second and Virginia third, according to organizations that track media spending and other sources.

About three-quarters of the president's advertising has been critical of Romney as Obama struggles to turn the election into a choice between him and his rival, rather than a referendum on his own handling of the weak economy. Obama's television ad spending dwarfs the Romney campaign's so far by a margin of 4-1 or more. It is at rough parity with the Republican challenger and several outside GOP-led organizations combined. They appear positioned to outspend the president and his allies this fall, perhaps heavily.

The latest attack ad, released on Saturday, includes Romney singing an off-key rendition of "America The Beautiful." Pictures and signs scroll by that say his companies shipped jobs to Mexico and China, Massachusetts state jobs went to India while he was governor and he has personal investments in Switzerland, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Democrats and even some Republicans agree the effort to cast Romney as an unfit steward for the economy shows signs of making some headway. Yet GOP strategists hasten to add that the former Massachusetts governor has ample time to counter, particularly with recent signs of a struggling economy and the fall campaign yet to begin.

"Despite all of the negative advertising from the Obama campaign, polling numbers are exactly where they were before they started this onslaught," the Romney campaign said in a memo distributed this week, referring to a rolling average of polls.

Romney accused the president's campaign false accusations on Friday and demanded an apology.

He also released an ad of his own on Thursday designed to respond to some of Obama's charges, the sort of rebuttal that often can signal concern that an attack is hitting home. In 2008, "candidate Obama lied about Hillary Clinton," the ad said, adding there was no truth to the charges that Romney was associated with companies that outsourced jobs...

According to strategists in both parties, focus groups with voters indicate the public knows relatively little about Romney's background, making the subject generally fertile territory for anyone trying to create an impression.

Romney has twice run for president. But even in this year's Republican primaries, his own campaign spent less money on television ads than Restore Our Future, a superPAC that aided him. Most of the outside group's efforts consisted of attacks on Romney's GOP rivals, rather than testimonials to his own background and character.

While outside groups make a difference, "what campaigns said about the candidates is the most important thing" in a race, said Terry Nelson, a Republican strategist who had a senior position in President George W. Bush's re-election campaign.

Another Republican strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid offending the campaign, said Obama's commercials attacking Romney are quickly defining him and the strategy is effective.

But Carl Forti, one of the strategists involved with Restore Our Future, said Obama's strategy is more defensive than it might appear. "I don't think he's got a choice. He has to try to change the dynamic now, but the polling indicates it's not working. He doesn't appear to be making any headway in the polls," he said.

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Editor's Note: When your only accomplishment is opposed by more than half the country that means you have nothing to run on...and when a Chicago politician has nothing to run on they invest in smear politics. Look into any and all campaigns that David Axelrod had anything to do with and you will come to understand that he is the sleaziest of smear-merchants...Axelrod is exactly what the overwhelming majority of Americans despise about politics.


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