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Monday, Oct 1, 2012 10:13 PM UTC

American Crossroads ads will target Obama on Libya

The Karl Rove-linked super PAC attacks Obama on defense VIDEO

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Topics: 2012 Elections, Libya embassy attack, Benghazi, American Crossroads, Karl Rove, Barack Obama, ,

American Crossroads ads will target Obama on LibyaPresident Barack Obama speaks at Farm Bureau Live during a campaign stop in Virginia Beach, Va. on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Stephen M. Katz) MAGS OUT (Credit: AP)

A new video released by the Karl Rove-linked  super PAC American Crossroads is part of a strategy by conservatives to make the president look weak on defense in the run-up to the first debate.

The video shows images of the attacks on the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and says that Obama spent that day campaigning in Las Vegas. The ad goes on to show various lightweight Obama interview appearances on shows like “The View” and “Late Night With David Letterman.” “President Obama needs to learn, being president isn’t just about being on TV and protecting your job. It’s about leadership,” the video says.

As Craig Unger reported earlier today, this is part of what GOP strategists are calling the “Jimmy Carter Strategy or the October Surprise,” an effort to make Obama look weak on defense. Mitt Romney tried something similar in an Op-Ed today in the Wall Street Journal, writing that because of Obama, the U.S. is “at the mercy of events rather than shaping them.”

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Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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