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President Obama spent a lot of time during a news conference at the NATO summit on trading attacks with Romney.  I understand that it was in response to a question, but a concise answer or deferral is one thing, delving into a lengthy rebuttal speech at a public policy forum on completely irrelevant topics is another altogether.

Is it appropriate for an incumbent official to leverage such opportunities as the NATO summit which arise solely out of their official capacities for their reelection campaign effort? Is it fair to the challenger? If we are so obsessed with capping the amount of money all the candidates can spend, in the name of “leveling the field”, shouldn’t there also be some laws that prohibit an incumbent from campaigning in their official capacities?