Is this seriously the best Team Obama can do? I’m stunned (via TPM):
As far as I can tell (and I watched the clip three times) this attack ad makes two misleading claims: (1) Mitt Romney’s “corporate takeovers” killed thousands of American jobs and (2) his economic record as the governor of Massachusetts was “a failure.” Let me address each charge separately, starting with the latter.
Mitt Romney’s record as the governor of Massachusetts was anything but “a failure.” During his first and only term, he balanced the budget four years without raising taxes, helped reduce the unemployment rate to 4.8 percent, and took his state -- from dead last! -- (eventually) to 28th in the nation in job creation. How awful. Perhaps if the president’s record resembled Governor Romney’s a little more, by the way, he wouldn’t be in danger of losing his job. Anyway, on the former charge, and setting aside the “creative destruction” element of capitalism, Mitt Romney created tens of thousands of net jobs while at Bain Capital. (Incidentally, there is absolutely no evidence that he “outsourced” jobs overseas, either). He invested early in a number of (now) well-known businesses -- including Staples and Sports Authority -- which today are hugely successful. The president and his Democratic supporters can demonize entrepreneurialism all they want, but the fact is Romney had, in the words of a popular former Democratic president, a “sterling” business career. This is beyond dispute.
I’ll finish with this: a fairly new Romney campaign ad comparing his record to that of the president’s.
Now, which spot do you think is more effective? Exactly.
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