EriktheRed
Eh...
Mitt Romneys campaign is launching its first significant pushback against the latest wave of attacks on Bain Capital. Recent polls indicate Obamas Bain message may be influencing swing-state voters.
On Wednesday, Romney aides met with Washington Post editors to demand the retraction of a recent story on Bain Capitals investments in companies that specialized in outsourcing jobs. The Obama campaign quickly cut an ad based on the Posts reporting and both President Obama and Vice President Biden have hammered the issue in tough campaign speeches this week. A Washington Post representative told TPM after the meeting that the paper stood by the story.
In a new twist, the Romney campaign is readying a filmed response to the attacks that features a former executive at one of the Bain-owned companies that Democrats have cited as a victim of layoffs and bankruptcy after Romneys private equity firm took over. The campaign has not officially released the new video, but it accidentally went up on YouTube and was grabbed by Politico before being quickly taken down. LOL
Caught Flatfooted, Romney Camp Pushes Back Hard Against Bain Attacks
Huselton says he felt compelled to come forward in response to Democratic attacks: I held my tongue while this was all going on, and I finally said, I cant take this anymore. We did a lot of good work there and somebody needs to know this.
"Did it all work out? No. Did we make a difference? I think we made a big difference," he says. "Theres this vampire story that Bain comes in and shows its teeth and sucks the blood out of the operation. It was really entirely the opposite of that. We went looking for a blood donor."
The "vampire" line is a reference to Obama's first ad targeting Romney's business background a level of rhetoric that the Obama campaign itself hasn't been using lately. (The super PAC Priorities USA Action is a different story ...)
Huselton has, in fact, defended Bain and Romney on the GST Steel issue before, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel. The fact that the Romney campaign is rolling him out now as a validator on Romney's business career is a sign that the debate has developed, and perhaps that Boston feels the need for more assertive pushback.
Mitt video defends GST Steel deal (Updated)