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Romney Camp Fighting Over Libya Response

Some want to hit president harder over conflicted account

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 1, 2012 7:57 AM CDT | Updated Oct 1, 2012 8:00 AM CDT

(Newser) – The Romney campaign lobbed an attack at Barack Obama's team over the Libya crisis yesterday, saying that they "can't seem to get their stories straight," after a pair of campaign insiders offered apparently contradictory accounts of it. David Axelrod told CNN that it was clear terrorists had attacked the consulate "the day after it happened," while David Plouffe said it was "not clear" for days, Fox News reports. But insiders tell Politico that Romney's campaign is deeply divided over how far to push this line of attack.

Stuart Stevens has been pressing Romney to avoid the issue and stick to the economy. Libya, a top aide explains, is "not voters' primary concern. And if we're not talking about their primary concern, we're not winning." Others want Romney to go for the jugular. "President Obama has been outmatched by events," one says. Certainly there seems to be fodder for attack. The New York Times today accuses the administration of being lulled into a false sense of security by Libyan security guards' effective response to a bombing on the Benghazi embassy in June. That follows on the heels of a scathing Washington Post piece about the embassy's security yesterday, along with the national intelligence chief defending the shifting views in the aftermath.

Mitt Romney, center, walks with his Secret Service detail as he arrives for services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Belmont, Mass., Sept. 30, 2012.
Mitt Romney, center, walks with his Secret Service detail as he arrives for services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Belmont, Mass., Sept. 30, 2012.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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This is going to be one of these things that you and others who write books are going to talk about. Was this an opportunity to go after the president on failure? - An anonymous Romney adviser

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 99 comments
cornelison
Oct 1, 2012 9:08 PM CDT
Compared to Libya, the GOP looks like a tea party.
greenlantern1
Oct 1, 2012 7:46 PM CDT
Was anyone, on Romney's staff, outraged when American marines were murdered at the barricks in Beirut, Lebanon?
milo7453
Oct 1, 2012 2:00 PM CDT
Some of you posters are right...Obama voters do not give a crap as long as obama and the other progressive liberals of the Democratic party keeps giving them free stuff! Besides, when Israel is on fire Obama will blame the Tea Party!
 

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