Obama Hits Rewind, Romney Looks Forward in New Ads
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Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Obama campaign wants to turn back the clock. The Romney campaign wants to hit fast forward.
All week long the difference in messages coming from the two teams has been striking. President Obama’s ad makers have kept a laser-like focus on Mitt Romney’s business dealings at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded nearly three decades ago.
On Thursday, the Obama team is out with a new video looking back at Romney’s memorable appearance last year at the Iowa State Fair when he declared, “corporations are people, my friend.”
Like the Bain ads, Romney’s heated exchange in Iowa last summer is meant to frame the image of the former Massachusetts governor as an out-of-touch capitalist, which Obama’s campaign has been hammering home all week. The president visits the Iowa State Fairgrounds later on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Romney appears to have little interest in re-living the past.
In an interview with Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin, Romney attempted to swat away questions about his record at Bain: “Well of course, I’d like to also focus on his record,” Romney said of Obama in response to a question inviting him to weigh in on his time in private equity.
And to underscore that strategy, the Romney campaign unveiled a new campaign ad Thursday morning — part of their “Day One” series — that attempts to answer, “What would a Romney Presidency be like?”
“Day one, President Romney announces deficit reductions, ending the Obama era of big government, helping secure our kids’ futures,” the ad’s narrators says. “President Romney stands up to China on trade and demands they play by the rules. President Romney begins repealing job-killing regulations that are costing the economy billions.”
So, as Romney looks forward to inauguration day, the Obama campaign plans to continue chipping away at his record from years earlier. Team Romney insists that the Bain attack is not sticking, but the Obama folks say they are just starting to build their case.
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