WASHINGTON -- The Obama-supporting super PAC Priorities USA Action is going back to Bain in a campaign-closing television ad campaign that attacks GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney for his time in private equity.
The group, which just reported raising $15.2 million in September, is re-releasing its most effective ad from the summer in key swing states. The spot features an employee at a Bain-controlled company discussing how he had to build a stage for a company announcement, only to find out that the announcement was that workers had been fired.
Titled "Stage," the ad proved remarkably provocative in Ohio in particular, where scars from years of jobs being shipped overseas still linger. According to a Priorities USA memo, announcing the campaign, it will be one of several spots focusing on Romney's private equity record.
"New ads to be released in coming days featuring stories of people who represent the thousands of middle class workers who lost their jobs, their pensions and their health benefits after Romney and his firm broke promises and bankrupted companies," the memo reads.
There is no immediate word on how much money is behind the new campaign, though officials say it will "complement" the $30 million television ad effort they currently are running. Stage –- which likely will have to be cut down to a 30-second version in order to be aired widely -- will run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin, the memo reads. The list notably excludes a swing state that looks increasingly out of President Barack Obama's grasp: North Carolina.
It's worth remembering that, for a brief period of time, some Democrats (mainly those with ties to Wall Street) questioned the notion of using Romney's private equity career against him, but the attacks proved effective over the course of the summer. And to the extent that Romney's been able to improve his standing in the polls it seems largely because he's managed to dispel the image (pushed by Priorities USA) that he's an out-of-touch plutocrat.
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