Death of the high-minded campaign

Pundits and politicians assumed the race for the presidency would switch from mudslinging to a campaign of ideas after Mitt Romney named Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. The assumptions were correct, but it only lasted three days. By Tuesday, both sides had resumed their attacks on one another. Each side even blamed the other for the return to low-brow campaigning. "After weeks of slanderous and baseless accusations leveled again Gov. Romney, the Obama campaign has reached a new low," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. In response, Obama's deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter fired back with, "I appreciate the faux outrage from the Romney campaign but if you want to talk about the use of words, then take a look at Mitt Romney's stump speech where he basically calls the president un-American."

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