From TFA: “Obama has always benefited from being able to shape the argument such that he avoided harsh negative attacks,” the adviser said. So that explains why 52% of Mississippi republicans (for example) believe that he’s a Muslim. (PPP March 2012) And why in 2010, 55% of likely voters in a Democracy corps poll believed he was socialist. And what percent of Americans still don’t think he was born here? The truth is the President has been as aggressively vetted as any candidate in history, but the old dirt doesn’t stick to him (e.g. drug use in youth) because he was up front about it in the first place. Maybe Romney could learn that lesson with regards to his tax returns. If Romney would actually come up with a plan for the economy that would help the middle class in the opinion of any well-regarded economist, he might have a chance. But with 94% of recent Romney ads being negative (Kantar Media CMAG), he’s obviously not got room to articulate any kind of vision for his post-election America. That suggests to me that he doesn’t have a vision for America after he’s President.