Our political Quote of the Day comes from former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, a GOPer running for Senate who has recently seen his lead evaporate. Talking Points Memo:
“The presidential thing is bound to have an impact on every election,” Thompson told Madison television station WKOW on Wednesday. “You know, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican. If you’re a standard-bearer for the presidency is not doing well, it’s going to reflect on the down ballot.”
And here’s the Romney campaign’s response — which suggests they need to buy a case of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” TPM again:
Now Romney surrogate John Sununu, perhaps the most ill-tempered campaign surrogate in history, is whacking back at Thompson saying he “sounds like Barack Obama trying to blame it on somebody else.”
And that is the story of the Romney campaign in the primaries and the general election:
When it doubt — and when in trouble — just lash out.
But Romney & Co need to exercise some care: with reponses like this Romney’s favorable ratings will be in the toilet with Republican bigwigs, too.
Or are they already?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.