VP Hopefuls Already Under Attack

Mitt Romney has yet to announce his vice presidential pick, but the Obama campaign is already issuing pre-emptive strikes against many of the hopefuls. In emails to supporters, the campaign wrote that Rob Portman “is one of the architects of the top-down Bush budget,” Tim Pawlenty’s record “is painful for the middle-class families who lived under his leadership,” and Marco Rubio “has led the way on almost every extreme position Mitt Romney has embraced.” A Romney campaign spokesman said the critiques are simply “negative smear campaigns against the possible GOP vice presidential nominees.” While a Portman confidante called the tactic “desperate.”