Politics

Democratic super PAC to revive attacks on Romney’s Bain record

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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A Democratic super PAC with ties to the White House announced Saturday that it plans to reinvigorate its efforts from earlier this summer to attack Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his leadership at private equity firm Bain Capital.

Bill Burton, a former Obama spokesman who runs Priorities USA Action, suggested in a Saturday memo that the best way to stop Romney from rising in the polls is to remind voters of his “time in the private sector and the devastating impact he had on middle class Americans.”

“Polling data clearly illustrates that Mitt Romney’s business experience — the central credential and professed asset for his candidacy — has become a real liability following months of Priorities USA Action’s advertising this spring and summer,” Burton wrote.

He added: “Priorities USA Action polling showed that, in markets where the ads ran, a decisive plurality of voters said Mitt Romney’s record as Bain CEO makes them less likely to vote for him.”

The Democratic super PAC was behind a $20 million campaign this summer about Romney’s business record, accusing the Republican and the company of making “millions, even when they drove companies they took control of into bankruptcy, employees lost their jobs, and promises for health and retirement benefits were broken.”

“The result was that Romney’s business experience became a significant liability,” Burton wrote.

The renewed effort will include running ads in swing states like Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin focusing on “people who represent the thousands of middle class workers who lost their jobs, their pensions and their health benefits after Romney and his firm broke promises and bankrupted companies.”

Meanwhile, the Romney campaign on Saturday released a new television advertisement called “The Obama Plan” giving voters “5 Reasons We Can’t Afford Four More Years.”

In the ad the Romney campaign says that under an Obama second term: the debt will grow from $16 trillion to $20 trillion; 20 million Americans will lose employer based health care; taxes on the middle class will increase by $4,000; energy prices will continue to rise; and Medicare will be cut by $716 billion.

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