Politics

Romney zeroes in on New Hampshire with web video

Jeff Winkler Contributor
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Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has found a message that works: namely, that Barack Obama doesn’t. Romney continues to push his campaign message this week with a new Web video titled “Obama isn’t working: New Hampshire.” The video, a titular sequel, maintains the same tone and focus Romney has sharpened in recent weeks: We’re in a depression, or at least a depressing state of mind.

The 2:30-long video is a testimonial from Packy Campbell, a “father of five, former state legislator and small business owner that is struggling in the Obama economy,” shot in a pseudo-documentary style. If Romney has been accused of being a robotic millionaire politician unable to connect with real people, this voter-to-voter approach certainly shifts the focus. With wisps of Neil Young/Dead Man-esque guitar in the background, Campbell lays out his problems, which are 100 percent relatable:

I paint a lot of houses, a lot of apartments myself. If you ever paint with somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing, it’s like sooner or later you say ‘Hey, stop, you’re making a mess, you’re getting paint everywhere.’ And that’s kind of what the government’s doing to the economy right now.

WATCH:

Romney launched his video campaign with broad swipes at the U.S. economy under President Barack Obama’s watch. Later, he focused on how the (generally faceless) voters were just a bump in the road on the way to national recovery.

Since late June, however, Romney has been putting a relatable face to his bad-news message. There were videos focusing specifically on Allentown, Pa., the industrial town already depressing in song, and not much better after Obama’s visit in 2009. (“Obama isn’t working: Allentown“)

Now it’s getting very personal, with videos like “Ryan’s Story” and last week’s “The Audacity of Indifference” — which features small-business owners pleading for economic change.

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