A new ad from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign pokes fun at Republican challenger Mitt Romney's response to recent criticisms of his past at Bain Capital.
The ad, which features multiple people confusedly reading Romney's recent remarks to CBS News, continues to question why the former Massachusetts governor will not claim responsibility over Bain even though he remained Chairman, CEO and sole shareholder after his 1999 retirement.
"I was the owner of an entity which was a management entity. That entity was one which I had ownership of until the time of the retirement program was put in place. But I had no responsibility whatsoever after February of '99 for the management or ownership - management, rather, of Bain Capital," Romney said on CBS Friday night.
"That sounds very suspicious," one reader states, adding "He says 'entity a lot."
The ad also features to headline of the Boston Globe article from last week that triggered the Obama campaign's questioning of Romney's involvement in Bain's business in the last 12 years.
"Romney stayed longer at Bain," the Globe headline read. The article stated Romney was "directly responsible" for the bankruptcies, outsourcing, layoffs and other business practices that the Obama campaign has used to castigate him.
Romney himself denies the claims, saying although he stayed on as Chairman and CEO, his leadership was in name only and he was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm.
"Mitt Romney has been unable to explain how he accepts no responsibility for what happened at Bain after February 1999 while remaining CEO, President, and Chairman of the company," a press release accompanying the Obama ad stated.
"Most Americans would find his explanation to be incoherent and confusing. With evidence continuing to mount that shows Romney remained active at Bain after 1999, the bottom line is clear: Romney needs to come clean so the American people can make their own judgments about his record, perspective and motivations."
In a conference call with reporters last week, Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter added if Romney filed inaccurate statements with the SEC, he was at best a "liar" and at worst committing a felony.
"Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony," Cutter said. "Or he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments."
In his response to CBS News, Romney said the Obama campaign focus on Bain was merely misdirection.
"We've got people, 23 million people that are out of work or stopped looking for work, need jobs, and the Obama campaign is out there month after month talking about one attack after the other on me," Romney said Friday. "How about talking about the president's failure to get this economy going?"
by RTT Staff Writer
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