Romney camp doubles down in Ohio

Despite a spate of headlines out of Ohio that push back on the notion that President Obama's campaign is trying to strip military members of voting rights in the upcoming election, Mitt Romney's campaign is drilling down on the claim.

In a memo out earlier from counsel Katie Biber, Romney's camp insisted that the suit the Obama camp filed - to restore early in-person voting rights to every Ohio citizen - is targeting military members.

The suit doesn't actually say this, and papers the campaign has filed called it "appropriate" to give three extra days to military members (more on that here). The suit argues against creating two classes of voters, using the legal term "arbitrary," which Romney's camp is seizing on to make its point - along with the argument that it's "unconstitutional."

"We disagree with the basic premise that it is arbitrary' and unconstitutional to give three extra days of in-person early voting to military voters and their families, and believe it is a dangerous and offensive argument for President Obama and the DNC to make," she wrote.

"It is not only constitutional, but commendable that the Ohio legislature granted military voters and their families this accommodation. It is despicable for the Obama campaign to challenge Ohio’s lawful decision."

She noted that a group of more than a dozen military groups is opposing the suit, which is an extremely complicated case related to the end of what had been early in-person voting broadly (which would likely help Obama) being turned into solely military early in-person voting (which is likely to help Romney).

The lawsuit is not trying to end it for military members, but make it exist for everyone. It was, however, predictable that the suit would inflame members of the military because of the language in the brief - and not surprising Obama's opponent would seize on it.

The Obama campaign, meanwhile, sent out a string of headlines that undercut the Romney campaign's claim, with statements calling it "shameful." Vice President Joe Biden made a similar statement to Time's Mark Halperin yesterday, who notes that this is a clear play to try to recreate some of the military voting outrage that existed in 2000.

So Romney's campaign has at least appeared to be making two separate points - arguing based on the brief that Obama doesn't agree military members deserve special privileges, while also, as some staffers put it, claiming the campaign is trying to deny voters rights. The suit's intent isn't about subtracting, it's about adding. But the fact that it's about the rights of service members makes it politically trickier, and the suit does suggest creating two classes of voters is a bad precedent - which is what the military organizations opposing it take issue with.

Whether the Romney campaign succeeds in making this a cause that breaks through remains to be seen. Given the involvement of the outside fraternal military groups, whichit's an open question.

* This post has been updated

Maggie Haberman is senior political reporter for Politico.