Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Obama campaign tags Romney as 'outsourcer-in-chief' in new ads

The Ohio version of the new Obama ad campaign. Ads will air in Virginia and Iowa as well. Bain is back'and Mitt Romney won't be happy about it.

In three new television ads airing in Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, the Obama campaign is once again going after Mitt Romney's tenure as founder and CEO of Bain Capital, this time focusing on his record as (in the words of The Washington Post) one of the "pioneers of outsourcing."

Each ad highlights the Washington Post story, quoting verbatim from the article's lede, which reported that Mitt Romney's Bain Capital had "invested in a series of firms that specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers to new facilities in low-wage countries like China and India."

The ads are positioned as a rebuttal to Romney ads currently playing in each state, each of them labeling Romney as a prospective "outsourcer-in-chief." The Ohio ad specifically targets Romney's promise to stand up to Ohio, saying that the only thing Mitt Romney has ever done with China is send American jobs there.

Without doubt, the outsourcer-in-chief message is a powerful one: Romney's entire campaign is based around the notion that his Bain Capital experience would make him a better president on economic issues, but an examination of his record at Bain Capital shows the exact opposite to be true. But while it's good that the campaign is hitting that message, these ads don't pack much emotional punch, unlike Priorities USA's ads. Moreover, positioning the attack as a response to Romney ads is too cute by half. When you've got something this good, there's no reason to do anything but go straight for the jugular.

Still, while the execution of these ads might not be ideal, it keeps the conversation going'and shows the Obama campaign still believes Mitt Romney's record as CEO of Bain Capital is a liability, not an asset.


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