Romney: Vote for love of country, not revenge

ICYMI, on the campaign trail on Ohio on Friday, the president had just a few choice words about why people should get out and vote in response to rally-goers booing at the mention of Mitt Romney.

I won’t even waste a facepalm on this swing-and-a-miss, but I have to wonder: What, exactly, was the president thinking here? (I think it’s safe to guess that that was not on the teleprompter.) I realize it was meant to be a casually funny, throwaway remark, but when you’ve run such a doggedly negative campaign and people are craving that good ol’ Hopenchange spirit of days gone by, it just sounds snide and petty. This is the time in the race when you’d think both candidates would be going for an uplifting, positive tone, and “revenge” is a pretty harsh and loaded word that begs some logical questions: Revenge against whom? The GOP candidate who’s had the audacity to challenge him and his failed policies in this pesky democratic system of ours? Or, perhaps, could it be for revenge against the stagnant economy and failed policies of the last four years? That would make much more sense.

What’s more, it sets Romney up for some wholesome rejoinders, like this one:

Did you see what President Obama said today? He asked his supporters to vote for “revenge.” For “revenge.” Instead, I ask the American people to vote for love of country.

Easy peasy. This was at a mega-rally in Ohio last night, by the way, that turned up tens of thousands of supporters and included dozens of bigtime GOPers who’ll be stumping on Romney’s behalf throughout the battleground states in the closing days. Coming to a swing state near you, via CNN:

At least 40 of those surrogates appeared at the chilly outdoor rally with Romney and Ryan that drew a massive audience in the Cincinnati suburb– crowd estimates ranged from 18,000 to 30,000 – and included a performance by Kid Rock, who belted out “Born Free” from on top of a piano.

Guests included 2008 GOP presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain; Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida; House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio; and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who delivered a series of blistering zingers against the president who rallied the crowd with line after line of reasons why Obama should “resign” and faulting him for “incompetence” over the Libya consulate attacks. …

Of the GOP powerhouse Romney said, “They are about to Fan out across the entire nation to make sure we have victory on November 6, and some comic on the team has named us the Romney-Ryan Real Recovery Road Rally – I got it out – that’s R6 for short.They’re going to make sure we win. Ohio is the center place. We’re going to make sure this is the place we take. And we’re going to take back the White House.”

• Bobby Jindal: Paternalistic, big-government liberalism is the biggest loser here
• Chris Christie: “I’ll be here to welcome” Obama when he comes to tour the NJ coast again next week
• MSNBC consensus: Obama’s speech was historic, amazing, “one of the best of his presidency”

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