https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/09/12/when-do-we-get-to-attack-obamas-character/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 01:40:53 -0400<![CDATA[Barack Obama is not a bad man, just a bad president, Mitt Romney said in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, echoing the self-characterization of the Wizard of Oz. The political pros advise against it, and with well-studied reasons. Responding to a question of this genre at a political conference some months ago, Karl Rove explained that if you attack Obama personally, you make all the people who voted for him feel badly. The way to get people to do what you want, by contrast, is to make people feel good about themselves. Politics is the art of flattering the voters, and that is just what Romney did: he told the voters that they had every right in the world to feel good when they voted for Obama, and they should vote against him now because the best feeling they had about Obama was then they voted for him.]]>Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:57:14 -0400<![CDATA[David P. Goldman]]>https://pjmedia.com/david-p-goldman/2012/09/12/when-do-we-get-to-attack-obamas-character-n131026