WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney can speak with authority when they complain about their words being taken out of context.
They've not only been victims of the tactic, they've also used it to great effect themselves.
In an unforgiving election season, every sentence spoken by the candidates is sliced and diced by the opposition for political gain, and unflattering statistics are cherry-picked to pack the most devastating punch. The campaigns pounce on any ill-advised remark and cry foul when their own slip-ups get similar treatment.
The tussle over recent comments by Obama and Romney on the economy is a skirmish in which both sides have lobbed out-of-context complaints after snippets of their words were isolated and held up to ridicule.
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