In a private conference call between the Republican National Committee and allies (which Yahoo News was accidentally invited to), party strategists warned against making personal attacks on President Obama. Their reasoning: though Obama’s job-approval rating is low, he remains popular enough personally that attacks could be risky. "We're hesitant to jump on board with heavy attacks,” said the vice president of a Republican polling firm. Instead, Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush, encouraged attacks on Obama for “flip-flopping” on the debt ceiling, the health-care mandate, and other issues.
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