Heckling, the sleeper issue of the campaign (or not) WASHINGTON - In the long presidential campaign season, there are moments that can make all the difference, when one candidate's statement can swing an election. This is not one of them. Still, in a sign of how ramped up the campaigns are even as interest in the election heads into something of a summer slump, no candidate's comments go un-responded to, even when it's about something as seemingly trivial as heckling. Yes, heckling. As in this statement issued Tuesday by the Obama campaign "on Mitt Romney's refusal to condemn heckling." First, the back story. When President Obama traveled to Cleveland last week for a significant speech meant to lay out the major contrasts between the two candidates, the Romney campaign sent a fully emblazoned campaign bus to circle the venue and distract attention. Not long before that, when campaign senior strategist David Axelrod went to the statehouse in Boston for a news conference on Romney's record as governor, the Romney campaign made sure they had a jeering section within earshot. So, as Romney made his way through key states this weekend on a bus tour, some Obama supporters were there to heckle the candidate. But Axelrod pointedly urged Obama backers to back down. I strongly condemn heckling along Mitt's route. Shouting folks down is their tactic, not ours. Let voters hear BOTH candidates & decide," he wrote on Twitter. On Tuesday, Romney was asked during a radio interview whether he'd make the same request of his supporters going forward. He declined, according to the Associated Press, saying he does not believe in "unilateral disarmament," even though it'd "be a nice thing" if they did. Team Obama quickly reacted. Axelrod, again on Twitter, wrote: "News flash: Mitt finally takes a firm stand. In favor of heckling. And then there was the emailed statement from the Chicago headquarters. "We have sent a strong message to our supporters that this campaign should be an open exchange of ideas, not one where we drown out the other side by heckling and crashing events," spokesperson Ben LaBolt said. We will win this campaign on the merits - ultimately Americans will side with the candidate who has the best agenda to restore security for the middle class. Campaigns are a reflection of their candidate, and Mitt Romney has a different view, endorsing heckling. With all that's at stake in this election, Americans deserve better. Snark aside, there is a serious concern on both sides about the tenor of the campaign, particularly in these sharply polarized times. John McCain saw in 2008 how anti-Obama fervor bubbled to the surface at his campaign rallies in the fall, pointedly correcting one supporter at a town hall meeting who said the Democratic hopeful was "Muslim." Democrats have become fond of pointing to areas where - in retrospect, of course - they say McCain was more moderate, or at least willing to find common ground, with climate change among them. So with the campaign sure to get more heated in the fall, team Obama is laying down an early marker in calling for an end to Bronx cheers, whether they come in Ohio or Virginia or any other number of swing states. Or even, perhaps, the Rose Garden.