FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 30, 2012

Voters react to tough sparring by Romney and Obama in presidential campaign

Can you spot a politics story -- local, state or national -- about an issue that interests you?

Find presidential campaign coverage. Are there harsh attacks by candidates or backers?

If there's a letter to the editor or opinion column about any candidate, see if it has mainly a positive tone about why that person deserves support or if it primarily criticizes an opponent.

Presidential campaigns don't always resemble mud wrestling –- at least not with Election Day still more than three months away. But weeks of hard-hitting TV ads and campaign trail comments apparently affect voters' views of both major candidates. "The increasingly negative tone of the election has taken a toll on President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, according to the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll," White House correspondent Chuck Todd of NBC reports. "Both presidential candidates have seen their 'very negative' ratings increase to all-time highs" -- 32 percent for the president and 24 percent for Romney.

Responses came from 1,000 registered voters July 18-22. Asked which man conducts a more negative campaign, 22 percent pick Obama, 12 percent choose Romney and 34 percent say both run negative campaigns. On the key question of which candidate is preferred overall, Obama leads Romney by 49 percent to 43 percent.

Here's a summary of each party's attacks: Obama's TV ads suggest Romney withholds personal tax data that may be embarrassing and say he's "not the solution, he's the problem." Another spot uses a clip of the Republican singing America the Beautiful off-key while dinging him for having overseas bank accounts. On the other side, Romney and groups backing him air commercials claiming Obama is incompetent, hostile to business and fond of government intrusion.

One of Obama's latest commercials (embedded below) may be an effort to soften his image and turn down the heat, at least temporarily. "Sometimes politics can seem very small," the president says as he looks directly into the camera as soft music plays. But in another fresh TV spot, he pushes back against "those [Romney] ads taking my words about small business out of context -- they're flat-out wrong. Of course American build their own businesses."

Blogger says: "Brace yourselves: It’s going to get worse and more negative before it gets better." -- Chris Cillizza, Washington Post

Republican says: "Voters think [the president] is a good guy, he's a good family man. But when the campaign is as negative as it is, it gives them reason to believe he's just another politician." -- Sara Fagen, campaign strategist and past White House political director under George W. Bush

Professor says: "Political reporters want a campaign to be nasty for the same reasons a baseball reporter wants to cover a pennant race: it's more fun, more people read and watch your stories, and your stories seem more important." -- Mark Leccese, assistant professor of journalism, Emerson College in Boston

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.