A new Web ad from the Republican National Committee (RNC) depicts the president as desperate and lashing out with attacks over "Big Bird, binders and bayonets" as the GOP looks to position presidential nominee Mitt Romney as the candidate in the driver's seat with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.
The Web video splices clips of a speech the president gave in 2008, in which he decries name-calling and a focus on "small things," with recent stump speeches where Obama knocks his opponent as a sufferer of "Romnesia" and the Republican nominee's "binders full of women" remark.
"Instead of talking about issues, the president offers petty attacks," onscreen text reads.
The video then transitions to media commentators suggesting that the president's aggressiveness was the result of Romney's momentum in the polls.
"Big Bird. Binders. Bayonets," the onscreen text continues. "It's time to talk about jobs."
"President Obama is doing exactly what he decried in 2008 — making a big election about small things," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a statement. "From glossy pamphlets two weeks before the election to talking about Big Bird, Elmo, binders and bayonets, it's clear he can't defend his record and he's flat out of ideas to get our economy going."
On Tuesday, senior advisers to the Obama campaign dismissed Republican suggestions they were trailing in the race, pointing to the president's leads in crucial battleground states.
“We have the ball, we have the lead, we have a great push-off as a result of these last two very strong debate performances,” said Obama senior political strategist David Axelrod. “This is a race we believe we’re leading. We believe we’re leading these battleground states.”
