On Thursday Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign released a video urging small business owners to share their success stories, capitalizing on President Barack Obama’s “you didn’t built that” blunder at a speech in Roanoke, Va., earlier this month.
The campaign is reaching out to business owners around the country who built their companies on their own, and is asking them to share their stories at builtbyus.mittromney.com.
The GOP presidential candidate believes he has found his Democratic counterpart’s Achilles heel, as the president has come under a storm of criticism from the right – and voters – after telling a crowd “if you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that.”
“If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own,” Obama told the group at a campaign event. “Somebody else made that happen.”
The Obama campaign insists that the president was talking about large-scale government infrastructure projects that facilitate business growth.
“President Obama’s comments show that he just doesn’t understand who the real job creators are,” Romney’s campaign website says. “How can he help small businesses, like those in Nevada, when he doesn’t even recognize their value?”
“We started our business in a little one car garage,” said a Michigan Romney supporter named Jim.
“I’m the owner of a small business, a business I built up from nothing — without any help from anyone,” Terri from Florida recalled.
Obama’s campaign has been on the defensive since the speech, claiming the words were taken out of context.
“Of course Americans build their own businesses,” Obama said in an ad released several days after the speech. “Every day hard-working people sacrifice to meet a payroll, create jobs and make our economy run.”
But Romney’s campaign has continued to act on the offensive against Obama, hosting 24 campaign events in more than 12 battleground states this week while the former Massachusetts governor is overseas.
“Clearly, this President doesn’t understand how our economy works,” said Romney’s campaign website. “Stand with Mitt today and stand up for Americans who work hard to build their businesses, their homes, their families and their communities.”