The Victim or the Problem?

Reference: Washington Post, Michael Gerson, "Romney Forced to Play Defense", Written 10/1/12

Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-romney-forced-to-play-defense/2012/10/01/4b7cbbba-0bf0-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html

    I read this editorial, written by Michael Gerson, and while reading I noticed some interesting argumentative tactics. The entire first paragraph is built on Obama's failures. The fallacy seen here is one of character assassination, a character argument used to degrade Obama's integrity and authoritativeness, so that the reader will continue to the rest of the article thinking that Romney is more trustworthy and in charge.

    The arguments about Obama's actions themselves are perhaps accurate, at least logical and not directed personally at him. But there's no opposing argument. Where's one of Obama's many accomplishments? There are none, or so it is implied. "Obama has not done anything good for this country in four years of being  President," is what Mr. Gerson is saying. After which, he describes not how Romney will do well, but how the media is destroying who Romney really is. This puts Romney on a defensive stance, where Obama is obviously on the offensive, as it is aggressively implied by the first paragraph. So now, what the author has done is he has dismissed any accusation against Romney. He has completely destroyed the integrity of the media, saying that "Republicans diagnose a severe case of media bias, and the symptoms are not imaginary." Well, that sure blows the media's opinion out of the water, doesn't it? Which conveniently gives dismisses any previous argument against Romney. The format of this editorial is not by mistake. The author has done two things: 1. Made Obama look like the reason for all our problems, and 2. Made Romney look like a victim.