Not only has Team Obama gone negative too early, they don't appear to be altering their primary campaign plan - Discredit Mitt Romney at all costs. If the economic atmospherics persist, this plan could ultimately benefit Romney. The Washington Post's Dan Baltz has more:

Friday’s dismal jobs report and some unexpected words from Bill Clinton delivered a bracing reminder to President Obama and his advisers that the election remains primarily a referendum on his record and that their path to victory may lie less in trying to discredit Republican Mitt Romney and more in winning a battle of ideas with their Republican rival.

By that measure, Obama has little time to show progress. The economy appears to have fallen into another spring slump, after signs in the winter that suggested the recovery was genuinely taking hold. And the president may have only limited ability to affect the biggest looming danger to the U.S. economy, which is the situation in Europe. It is no wonder that analysts say the president’s prospects for reelection are no better than 50-50.

The president’s campaign has appeared wedded to a strategy of trying to discredit Romney. That began with attacks on his role at Bain Capital, the private equity firm where he made his fortune. Obama’s advisers believe it will have the desired effect on voters, but so far there is very little evidence that attacks on Bain are changing minds. Current polls continue to be extremely close.

The Bain attacks have caused grumbles from Democrats who have friends and allies in the private equity world, but those complaints did not deter the president’s Chicago team from pressing forward.