Hotsheet Live: The politics of campaign ads

(CBS News) On Friday's edition of Hotsheet Live, CBS News political director John Dickerson was joined by Huffington Post's Jon Ward, The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty and Jackie Kucinich of USA Today to discuss a controversial campaign ad launched by President Obama's campaign this week attacking Mitt Romney's work at Bain Capital.

"On a superficial level, [the Obama campaign] wants people to think of Romney as heartless and someone who doesn't care about the little guy," Ward said. "But it's been interesting to watch the debate play out this week, because there is a lot of nuance to it."

Tumulty said that history shows that Romney's record with Bain Capital makes him vulnerable.

"It was a narrative that has been used against Romney before in his career and the Obama [campaign] came out swinging hard this week," Tumulty said.

Kucinich added that the ad is an effort by the Obama Campaign to "define Romney" before he has a chance to define himself.

Watch the entire discussion, including a discussion on Mitt Romney's new campaign ad, in the video above. Each panelist concluded the show with an endorsement for a piece of political journalism. Ward highlighted a New York Times titled, China's obsession with stability can come at the cost of laws.

Tumulty endorsed Washington Post's David Fahrenthold's article about what Mitt Romney's first day in office would be like titled, Romney's ambitious agenda for first day in office wouldn't be easy to achieve.

Kucinich recommended USA Today's continuing investigation into Pentagon propaganda efforts.

Dickerson endorsed the website The Living Room Candidate, which collects campaign ads from past presidential races