Obama ad attacks Romney as 'vampire' job killer
New Obama re-elect ad launched in a handful of battleground states attacks Republican Mitt Romney's record at a private equity firm.
Obama ad attacks Romney as 'vampire' job killer
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
President Obama's campaign launched a new television ad Monday morning that goes straight at Republican Mitt Romney's chief credential, business experience, attacking him as a greedy corporate executive who killed jobs and was indifferent to the suffering of workers.
The two-minute TV commercial uses the example of GST Steel, a Kansas City steel mill that was purchased by Bain Capital, Romney's former private equity firm, then restructured and ultimately closed, costing 750 jobs. It features former workers who describe the devastation and the lost pension benefits.
"It was like a vampire," former GST Steel worker Joe Cobb said. "They came in and sucked the life out of us."
Andrea Saul, spokeswoman for Romney, said the campaign welcomed "the Obama campaign's attempt to pivot back to jobs and their failed record."
She said that the bankruptcy of GST Steel and the layoffs occurred two years after Romney had stopped working at Bain, in 1999. (Romney left to manage the Salt Lake Olympics, but he was listed as CEO of the firm at the time of the bankruptcy and received in come from his ownership stake in Bain.)
Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager for Obama, said in a conference call with reporters that it did not matter whether Romney was actively involved in Bain decisions that affected the steel company.
"He set this in motion," Cutter said. "It was his structure that was put in place, and he....was still making profits off this deal, and continues to profit off of Bain Capital today," she said. "So I do think it’s absolutely on the table as an indication of Romney’s values."
The ad is running in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia and Colorado. Republican media buyers said that the Obama campaign had only put up $83,000 for air time for the spot.
The ad was merely the beginning of a broad assault on Romney's career in private equity, including a web site.
Comment removed.- "were restructured"
Bain's MO was loading up a company with loan debt - then taking out that cash for Bain people like in Romney's pockets.
Bain never made an investment in "restructuring" to try to keep jobs -- it was about destroying the company while making money for Bain only.
— pal - Irrespective of the nature of Romney's company, the fact that the man pays a 15% tax on the $7.5 million he made from its activities because it is characterized as "capital gains" and he wants to REDUCE that tax "burden" is a national travesty. Capital gains treatment of income should be given where an investment is made in jobs, infrastructure or production. Our long term deficits are primarily based on 2 overriding issues, the Reagan/Bush tax cuts and Bush's unfunded military adventures. Social Security and Medicare need actuarial adjustments for longer lifespans but if the Republicans think that they can give vouchers for a small portion of medical expenses of the elderly and Social Security that has been promised to people for decades because the rich aren't paying their fair share, they have another thing coming.— Palestra Jon
- Obama calling Romney a "job killer"? That's funny.— Kaiser Sosa
- Funny thing is, Obama has NEVER really had a real job. Liberals are so funny.— Kaiser Sosa
- You wingnuts are a joke---you're going to blame Obama for the 8 million jobs in the real estate, mortgage and construction industries that were lost under Bush and not coming back? Without a stronger stimulus and job program, which was stopped dead by the Republicans, no one could have done better to get the economy moving again than what Obama has done. Had he gone along with the austerity called for by the Right, it would have been Hooverville II. You don't worry about short term deficits in a recession. You also don't start wars without paying for them. But that has become SOP for the Right.— Palestra Jon
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- If only people vetted Obama this closely before he became president. Romney's accomplished more in a week than Obama accomplished before he became president.— AvoidSundanceVacations
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- Fitzgerald & Phila Newspapers.....promoting advertising for Obama in a 'newspaper' we pay for. I won't hold my breath waiting for the anti-Obama Ad from Fitzgerald— keapitreal
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- @Palestra: you need to be fully informed cause you sound like an idiot(thinking tax cuts & war are reasons for long-term deficits).....that means reading/understanding both sides.
@Seeds: I think you are an idiot....but a useful one for Fitzgerald.
@Cleanup Philly seems to have it right.— keapitreal - I don't care what party you place yourself in, but anyone who thinks Mitt Romney is anything more than a hollow shell who hasn't earned a real dollar in his life is kidding themselves. Buying up companies then destroying them for profit is not something that takes business savvy. It only takes a fount of callousness and greed. Can anyone name one single accomplishment of Romney's that has contributed anything of worth to this world? The answer to that question is a resounding no.— Hemingway
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You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
