Republicans Duke It Out with Attack Ads

The Takeaway

With the Michigan primary almost two weeks away, Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are waging war against each other through televised attacks ads. On Wednesday, Rick Santorum responded to a Super PAC funded Romney ad that claimed he was a “big spender” by depicting Romney as “Rombo.” A Mitt Romney look-a-like, “Rombo,” is seen shooting mud with a machine gun at cardboard pop-ups of Rick Santorum. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, explains the effectiveness of such ads and the truthfulness behind them. She is also director of Flackcheck.org.

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