Campaign speak 101: When political consultants talk about a "contrast" ad, they're generally just employing euphemistic terminology for an attack ad. This new spot from a pro-Romney SuperPAC, however, embraces the true meaning of the word 'contrast,' placing Mitt Romney's business and governing record side-by-side with President Obama's:
Restore Our Future is trying to get a head start on framing the presidential debates, the first of which takes place on October 3rd in Denver. They're doing so out of necessity. Early voting in some swing states starts before the first presidential debate, which is madness. This spot highlights Romney's strong and documented private sector record on jobs. As Governor of Massachsetts, unemployment dropped to 4.8 percent during Mitt Romney's term in office. When he began his term, the Bay State's job creation rate was dead last in the nation; by Romney's final year, it had leaped to 28th. And he balanced four consecutive budgets without raising taxes, despite the efforts of a rapacious, 87 percent Democratic state legislature. President Obama's $825 Billion "stimulus" scheme has failed on its own terms, his signature accomplishment is unpopular, counter-productive, and is fleecing Medicare, he's presided over four consecutive trillion-dollar-plus deficits (piling more than $5 trillion atop the national debt), and unemployment has remained above 8 percent for 42 consecutive months. That's a contrast Romney should welcome, and amplify -- especially as the Obama campaign is mired in negative, petty and overwhelmingly false attacks.
UPDATE - A few polling notes. A new Gallup survey shows most swing-state voters do not believe they are better off than they were four years ago, yet President Obama maintains a small lead (within the margin of error) over Mitt Romney in those states. PPP -- the Democrat/DailyKos outfit -- is going to release a poll tomorrow showing Romney edging ahead of Obama in Wisconsin. This continues a trend toward the Republican ticket in the Badger State ever since the Paul Ryan announcement. Rasmussen's daily tracker has Romney leading by one point. Gallup shows the former governor ahead by two.
UPDATE II - Here's the Romney camps' latest commercial, which continues to slam away on the Welfare issue:
I've previously analyzed the veracity of these attacks (Romney is mostly right about Obama's indefensible action). This is Team Romney's third welfare-related ad; polling and focus groups must show that it's resonating.
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