Republican super PAC slams Obama for going negative (as it goes negative itself)

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Welcome to that weird part of the election cycle where groups run negative campaign ads about negative campaign ads.

American Crossroads, one of the most well-funded Republican super PACs this election cycle, released a Web video Monday attacking President Barack Obama for going negative against challenger Mitt Romney so early in the election cycle.

Entitled "Fear," the video opens with Obama's comments in years past that encouraged positive discourse and then quickly transitions to a line-up of reporters and commentators questioning the president's strategy against Romney. The ad is meant to suggest that Obama is intentionally dividing the country--at one point they flash an image of a street brawl behind the words "Divide and Conquer"--and it ends with a shot of the words from the iconic "Hope" poster that transform into "Fear" amid a fiery inferno.

"If you don't have a record to run on," Obama is heard saying as the poster crackles in flames, "then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from."

Of course, American Crossroads has also gone negative with ads already this election cycle, as has Romney's campaign.

American Crossroads released the video online in conjunction with a copy of a "Fear" poster:

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