On the Trail: Aug. 21

Teams Obama and Romney ramp up the rhetoric.

The Latest News and Quotes From the Campaign Trail - With just one week left before the start of the national conventions, the rhetoric is rising as high as the temperatures in Tampa and Charlotte. Republican Mitt Romney accused President Obama of "a new low," and President Obama warns Romney that he can't "just make stuff up." – Joyce Jones (Photos from left: Alex Wong/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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The Latest News and Quotes From the Campaign Trail - With just one week left before the start of the national conventions, the rhetoric is rising as high as the temperatures in Tampa and Charlotte. Republican Mitt Romney accused President Obama of "a new low," and President Obama warns Romney that he can't "just make stuff up." – Joyce Jones (Photos from left: Alex Wong/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Fighting Words - Romney expressed his view of the kind of campaign that Obama's running, and accused the president of "taking things to a new low." In Chillicothe, Ohio, the Republican said that Obama "demonizes some" and "panders to others," leading Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt to call Romney's remarks "unhinged," given the millions of dollars that the candidate and the GOP have poured into negative advertising. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Fighting Words - Romney expressed his view of the kind of campaign that Obama's running, and accused the president of "taking things to a new low." In Chillicothe, Ohio, the Republican said that Obama "demonizes some" and "panders to others," leading Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt to call Romney's remarks "unhinged," given the millions of dollars that the candidate and the GOP have poured into negative advertising. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Pack It Up - "Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago," Romney said at a campaign event in Ohio. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Pack It Up - "Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago," Romney said at a campaign event in Ohio. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ready to Brawl - "My view is if they want to punch us, we're going to punch them back with brass knuckles and that's what we have to do," said Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus. (Photo: FOX News)

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Ready to Brawl - "My view is if they want to punch us, we're going to punch them back with brass knuckles and that's what we have to do," said Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus. (Photo: FOX News)

The Softer Side of Mean - Americans for Prosperity, a political action committee that's backing Romney, released a series of one-minute television ads last week that take a kinder, gentler approach to criticizing Obama. "I still believe in hope and change," says one woman, striking a sad tone. "I just don't think Obama's the way to go for that." (Photo: Americans for Prosperity)

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The Softer Side of Mean - Americans for Prosperity, a political action committee that's backing Romney, released a series of one-minute television ads last week that take a kinder, gentler approach to criticizing Obama. "I still believe in hope and change," says one woman, striking a sad tone. "I just don't think Obama's the way to go for that." (Photo: Americans for Prosperity)

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Don't Stop Believing - Stumping in New Hampshire over the weekend, Obama accused the Republican ticket of wanting to turn Medicare into a voucher system and trying to sell voters "trickle down snake oil" that won't create jobs, reduce the deficit or move the nation forward. He also urged the audience to keep the faith in him because, "We've come too far to turn back now." (Photo: Barack Obama/Flickr)

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Don't Stop Believing - Stumping in New Hampshire over the weekend, Obama accused the Republican ticket of wanting to turn Medicare into a voucher system and trying to sell voters "trickle down snake oil" that won't create jobs, reduce the deficit or move the nation forward. He also urged the audience to keep the faith in him because, "We've come too far to turn back now." (Photo: Barack Obama/Flickr)

Tailor Made - The Obama campaign has unleashed a new series of radio ads in swing states that tie the Republican ticket to a controversial position on an issue of importance to that state. The Florida ad targets the Romney–Ryan plan for Medicare. In North Carolina, which has a large military population, the ad highlights Ryan's votes to cut funding for some health care services for veterans and reservists. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Tailor Made - The Obama campaign has unleashed a new series of radio ads in swing states that tie the Republican ticket to a controversial position on an issue of importance to that state. The Florida ad targets the Romney–Ryan plan for Medicare. In North Carolina, which has a large military population, the ad highlights Ryan's votes to cut funding for some health care services for veterans and reservists. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Swift Boating Circa 2012 - The Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, formed by a group of ex-special operations and former CIA officers have produced a video that accuses Obama of taking too much credit for the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden and for leaking security matters for political advantage.  (Photo: opsecteam.org)

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Swift Boating Circa 2012 - The Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, formed by a group of ex-special operations and former CIA officers have produced a video that accuses Obama of taking too much credit for the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden and for leaking security matters for political advantage.  (Photo: opsecteam.org)

Whatever Works - “Throughout this campaign, Mitt Romney and his allies have shown that if the truth isn’t favorable to them, they have no problem claiming the opposite — and the reality is that President Obama has a foreign policy record that is among the strongest in recent memory,” Sen. John Kerry said in an email to supporters. (Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Elton John AIDS Foundation)

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Whatever Works - “Throughout this campaign, Mitt Romney and his allies have shown that if the truth isn’t favorable to them, they have no problem claiming the opposite — and the reality is that President Obama has a foreign policy record that is among the strongest in recent memory,” Sen. John Kerry said in an email to supporters. (Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Elton John AIDS Foundation)

Be Honest - "You know, they can run the campaign that they want. But the truth of the matter is you can't just make stuff up. That's one thing you learn as president of the United States. You get called into account," Obama said at a surprise White House press conference this week. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Be Honest - "You know, they can run the campaign that they want. But the truth of the matter is you can't just make stuff up. That's one thing you learn as president of the United States. You get called into account," Obama said at a surprise White House press conference this week. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Three More Years! - Obama campaign manager Jim Messina sent a letter to Romney’s campaign manager, offering to drop the tax records issue if the Republican releases his returns from 2007 to 2011, which Romney won't do. In a Friday news dump, when no one's paying attention, the campaign released Paul Ryan's tax returns, which showed he'd paid a tax rate 15.9 percent on $215,417 in 2010 and 20 percent on $323,416 in 2011. (Photo: barackobama.com)

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Three More Years! - Obama campaign manager Jim Messina sent a letter to Romney’s campaign manager, offering to drop the tax records issue if the Republican releases his returns from 2007 to 2011, which Romney won't do. In a Friday news dump, when no one's paying attention, the campaign released Paul Ryan's tax returns, which showed he'd paid a tax rate 15.9 percent on $215,417 in 2010 and 20 percent on $323,416 in 2011. (Photo: barackobama.com)

Show Us the Money - "The American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United States that your life's an open book when it comes to things like your finances," Obama said at a White House press briefing. (Photo: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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Show Us the Money - "The American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United States that your life's an open book when it comes to things like your finances," Obama said at a White House press briefing. (Photo: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)