The Obama campaign released a new TV ad Saturday attacking GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in unpatriotic tones for sending jobs overseas while he ran the private equity firm Bain Capital.
Titled “Firms,” the spot features Mr. Romney singing “America the Beautiful” during the GOP primary while a montage of empty offices and factories is shown on the screen. The ad says Mr. Romney moved jobs to Mexico and holds a Swiss bank account, and it concludes with the message, “Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem.”
The commercial is airing in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
President Obama’s campaign said in a statement that the ad “highlights Mitt Romney’s record of shipping jobs overseas and owning offshore accounts in foreign tax havens.”
“As a businessman, Romney shipped jobs to Mexico and China,” the campaign said. “And as a presidential candidate, Romney should explain to the American people his mysterious corporation in Bermuda, his funds in the Cayman Islands, and the Swiss bank account he opened.”
The rival camps traded accusations Friday over Mr. Romney’s business record. Mr. Romney insisted that he had “no role whatsoever in the management” of Bain after early 1999, and demanded Mr. Obama apologize for campaign officials who claim otherwise. He said the attacks were “beneath the dignity of the presidency.”
Bain’s actions from 1999 to 2002, when the Obama campaign argues Mr. Romney still was in control of the firm, are the focus of much of the claims about outsourcing.
Mr. Obama said Mr. Romney’s business record is fair game, and that the Republican should explain more fully his role at Bain after 1999.
