TAMPA, Fla. — Million-dollar Mitt Romney donor Frank VanderSloot is plotting his next sizable super PAC donation, but wants to give it to a group that will use the money to run positive ads instead of attack ads that, in his opinion, cross the line.
VanderSloot, who serves as Romney’s finance co-chair and earned his spot on President Barack Obama’s so-called “enemies list” when he gave $1 million to Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting Romney, is using the Republican National Convention this week to scope out his options.
“We’re just evaluating super PACs, seeing who’s being the most effective, who’s got the best message,” he said. “I really don’t like the ones that are doing attack ads and stuff.”
The three biggest options are Americans for Prosperity, American Crossroads and Restore our Future.
“They’re all doing a really good job, but some of them get crossways, I think. They go over the line in regards to slamming — I mean I don’t like these ads that twist things and make them look worse than they are … It’s really bad, you don’t have to exaggerate, or you don’t have to catch somebody in their words and make it look like it’s something they’re not,” he said.
In particular, he singled out an American Crossroads ad titled “Obama’s War on Women.”
“I thought this one ad that had a sort of Alfred Hitchcock [tone], kind of, it was a lady voice, kind of ominous,” VanderSloot explained. “It is what it is, and, yeah, I think women have suffered under [Obama’s presidency], but I don’t think we need to make it sound spooky.”
“I don’t think people buy into that. I don’t. I turn off when I hear that sort of sound.”
The Idaho multi-millionaire said he wanted more ads that talked about “who Mitt Romney is and what he’s done,” specifically highlighting his “absolutely stellar” record at Bain Capital of turning businesses around.
“I think if we talk the facts, and give people facts and let them decide for themselves, I think it’s a lot more powerful than trying to put the theatrics on it and try to get people to believe something because of how we said rather than what the facts are,” he said.