Obama And Romney Aides Battle Over ‘Romnesia,’ Big Bird, And ‘Binders’ [Video]

The final presidential debate is on Monday, but two campaign figures got started early: Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter and Romney campaign adviser Kevin Madden.

Cutter and Madden sparred on Face the Nation Sunday over President Obama’s latest zinger, the buzz-worthy claim that his GOP opponent suffers from “Romnesia.” Madden said that The Obama campaign is forced to rely on catchy quips due to a lack of an overall strategy or political vision.

“The very fact that the president of the United States has to utter a term like that just is a glaring example of how small the campaign has been,” Madden said. “The Obama campaign has not been one about the future…Instead, they’ve reduced themselves to very small attacks like ‘Romnesia’…along with this talk about binders, this talk about Big Bird, I mean all of it is really indicative of a candidate who doesn’t have a vision for the future.”

Cutter countered that Romney himself is responsible for several of the Obama campaign’s talking points, as Big Bird and the now-famous “binders full of women” remark were brought up by the GOP candidate, not President Obama.

“We are not the ones that brought up Big Bird. Big Bird is important because that’s the only thing Mitt Romney could point to as to how he’s going to reduce the deficit,” Cutter said. “Deficits are a big issues in this campaign and that’s the only thing you can point to…The president has a detailed plan on the table as to how to reduce these deficits.

“Romnesia is a playful term of what Mitt Romney is doing in the final days of this race,” Cutter added. “He’s run as the ideal tea party candidate, severely conservative…and in the last two weeks of the campaign he’s running to the middle.”

Still, Madden thinks that the Obama campaign is being petty.

“I don’t think the message to voters right now ought to be playing Scrabble with your opponent’s name when you have 23 million people struggling to find work,” he said.

Watch Stephanie Cutter and Kevin Madden duke it out over “Romnesia,” Big Bird, and “binders full of women” on Face the Nation below, via CBS.