President Barack Obama’s campaign won’t return $7,500 donated by two executives at Bain Capital, despite his repeated criticism of former Gov. Mitt Romney’s work at the company.
“No one aside from Mitt Romney is running for president highlighting their tenure as a corporate buyout specialist as one of job creation when, in fact, his goal was profit maximization,” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the campaign, according to the New York Observer’s Politicker site.
That Bain-Capital-isn’t-Romney distinction also helps Obama continue his outreach to wealthy Democrats in the investment industry, many of whom aren’t opening their checkbooks to Obama after watching him attack the business sector for four years.
The sector leans Democratic and generously donated to Obama in 2008. For example, Bain’s numerous executives have donated far more to Democratic causes than to GOP causes since 1990.
Obama has already reshaped his campaign-trail pitch to help him simultaneously hit Romney and woo Romney’s private equity peers.
But Obama’s effort to slam Romney’s business experience helps the GOP candidate during an election that is focused on the economy, said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. “Thousands of people have jobs right now because of the work he did” while at Bain Capital, Williams told The Daily Caller.
Other aspects of Romney’s career, including his work as Massachusetts governor, will be showcased later by his campaign, Williams added.