Politico: But there is a particular category of the 2012 race to the low road in which the two sides are not competing on equal terms: Obama and his top campaign aides have engaged far more frequently in character attacks and personal insults than the Romney campaign... Obama, who first sprang to national attention with an appeal to civility, has made these kind of attacks central to his strategy.

In August, some Democratic strategists let leak to the press that Obama's top aides were looking at a massive character takedown of Romney in light of a deterring economy; "kill Romney" was a phrase used by one. "That was their memo that came out from their campaign," Ann Romney said. "And it's like, 'not when I'm next to him you better not."

If the Democratic National Committee’s strategy for victory is to muffle its own party’s achievements and focus more on slamming Republicans, it seems to be doing a good job on its website. The DNC’s homepage has numerous attack ads against presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, far more than news touting President Obama’s accomplishments in office.

The words, "FELONS" and "TAX RECORDS," are displayed onscreen for at least six seconds, so the Obama campaign wants to make sure its viewers see the words. Given the title of the ad--and the subject--the ad wants viewers to consider that Mitt Romney might not be releasing more tax returns because, the Obama campaign is suggesting, he might be a felon.