For its first official foray into the Campaign 2012 TV ad space, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s publicity team decided to take a phrase Barack Obama once used as a quotation clearly sourced to someone else and attribute it to Obama himself. But relax everyone, it was on purpose!

The phrase was actually generated by an aide to 2008 GOP hopeful John McCain. When Romney’s camp was busted by Politico and CBS, among other news sources, the result was a dazzling display of political rhetoric that, true to form, made little sense upon close inspection. The ad itself is posted below the excerpt here. –KA

“Political Hotsheet” at CBS News:

In the ad, which goes up Tuesday in New Hampshire, Mr. Obama is heard saying “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”

But when Mr. Obama made that statement, he was actually quoting an aide to John McCain, his 2008 rival for the presidency. “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose,” Mr. Obama said.

In an email to Politico, the Romney camp said it used the out-of-context quote “intentionally.”

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#advertising#barack obama#john mccain#mitt romney#president#republicans