Campaign 12 Optics: Stadium Wars

Turn (ab)out is fair play?

Striking back at the media embarrassment Team Mitt experienced in Detroit back in February, Breitbart.com posted this photo of Obama’s appearance at Ohio State with the caption: “OBAMA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN EMPTY ARENA.” The photo was posted to Twitter by a Romney campaign spokesman. A few takes:

• The problem, right off, is that it’s a smaller space (20k) and less empty (14k) then Detroit. (Side note: Since when would Breitbart himself offer up numbers that undermined his own argument?)

• You really want to start a running meme with Obama comparing crowd size?

• A lame attack only makes you look lame. Unless you’ve got something really good, leave the swiftboating to Rove and the rest of the surrogates.

• Isn’t it a little early in the campaign for “mine’s bigger than yours”?

• You can’t fill ’em all.

• Maybe it’s fair to ask, however, if the Detroit stadium photos would have drawn the same scrutiny if it was Obama’s event and not Romney’s. My take at the time was that the photos made news because they reflected concern in the air about Mitt’s lack of substance. At the same time, I do think the camera likes Obama better. Not that it’s based on any conservative or liberal bias, however. The media is much more “bandwagon” than that. Obama is just a lot more likable (which does effect the job).

(photo: Ryan Williams/Romney Campaign via Twitter)