The one-minute radio ad from Priorities USA Action and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, includes audio from a secretly taped video of Romney speaking at a fund-raiser claiming he wants to raise taxes on the middle class by $2,000 while giving millionaires a tax cut.
The radio effort begins 9/27 and starts with a direct attack on Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch millionaire who has insulted nearly half of the country: “150 million Americans: seniors, veterans, the disabled,” an announcer says in the ad. “Romney attacked them when he thought no one else was listening. Mitt Romney’s just not looking out for us,” the announcer in the ad says.
Listen to the ad here:
The radio ad will run in Ohio and Virginia starting this week. The same ad or others that might follow will continue running throughout the rest of the campaign.
The super PACs backing President Obama have been particularly aggressive in attacking Romney’s wealth on the president’s behalf. Priorities USA Action, which is run by former aides to Obama, have spent millions to highlight the Republican candidate’s background in business and his investments, reports the NY Times.
The story noted that aides to Romney have acknowledged privately that his comments from the fund-raiser have hurt the campaign. Polls in several battleground states show Obama with significant leads over Romney.
RBR-TVBR observation: Frankly, the Romney audio did not reference the middle class at all. He said “47% of the people who do believe they are victims.” The ad is a bit misleading—listen for yourself. If Romney wants to win, many are now saying he’s going to have to get tougher on the president. The Democratic Super PACs are certainly not pulling any punches on Romney. Will Romney = Kerry? We’ll see, but apparently with all of the money in this campaign, Romney will need to take off the gloves.
Romney has taken off the gloves. There are any number of his ads running (which he approved, unlike the ad from the PACs supporting Obama which require no candidate approval, and can’t have it because there can’t be any coordination) which are equally misleading or downright false. Both sides are running ad campaigns that in many ways turn the stomach. (This is particularly true for the PACs supporting Romney, who have and are spending far more money than the PACs supporting Obama.) Such is the nature of today’s political culture and environment. But to say Romney hasn’t taken off the gloves betrays an apparent bias on the part of the editor making the comment.
Comments are closed.