Obama campaign defends ‘revenge’ remark

The Obama campaign Saturday defended the president's remark that voting is “the best revenge,” which has come under attack by the Romney campaign.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Obama’s comment at a Friday rally in Ohio was made in the context of a Mitt Romney “scare tactics” TV ad airing there.

Psaki said the ad was an attempt at “frightening workers in Ohio into thinking, falsely, that they’re not going to have a job.”

“And the message he was sending is if you don’t like the policies, if you don’t like the plan that Gov. Romney is putting forward, if you think that’s a bad deal for the middle class, then you can go to the voting booth and cast your ballot,” Psaki said. “It’s nothing more complicated than that.”

Obama made the comment at a Friday rally when the crowd began booing Romney. “Don’t boo, vote. Vote. Voting is the best revenge,” he said.

The remark drew quick criticism from Mitt Romney on Friday, and he continued the attack at his Saturday rally in New Hampshire.

"Vote for revenge? Let me tell you: Vote for love of country," Romney said. "It is time we lead America to a better place."

Romney’s campaign stepped up the attack with a new ad released Saturday morning juxtaposing Obama's "revenge" comment with Romney's saying to vote for love of country.

The ad ends by asking: “What is your reason for voting?” The campaign did not indicate where it would air.

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