WASHINGTON: Future US presidential candidates take note: if you feel compelled to break into song on the campaign trail, it could cost you.
Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney found this out to their cost as their rival campaigns unveiled ads and videos mocking their crooning to supporters.
It began at the weekend with team Obama rolling out a TV ad that featured Romney’s earnest if off-key rendition of the patriotic standard, “America the Beautiful,” playing over images of shuttered factories and text charging that Romney helped ship jobs abroad.
The spot flashes quotes onscreen from news agencies depicting Romney as a wealthy businessman and investor who outsourced jobs while at the helm of his private equity firm Bain Capital — and squirreling away some of his money in offshore havens.
“In business, Mitt Romney’s firms shipped jobs to Mexico. And China,” it said.
“He had millions in a Swiss bank account. Tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman islands,” it said.
Romney’s campaign pushed back early Monday with its own web video, featuring Obama singing the Al Green classic “Let’s Stay Together” at a fundraiser.
It quoted articles by The New York Times and National Public Radio saying Obama rewarded major donors with key positions, White House perks and access.
“Lots of love for the donor class,” the ad text reads. “What about the middle class?“
Campaign videos are usually seen by fewer viewers than conventional TV advertising, but the format is growing and such videos tend to provide talking points for the campaigns, political parties and the reporters covering them.
Romney’s video addressed the “political payoffs” of the Obama administration, a new line of attack Romney hopes will deflect the barrage of criticism by Democrats over his time at Bain and the growing pressure, including from members of his own party, to release more of his tax records.
“When billions upon billions of dollars are given by the Obama administration to the businesses of campaign contributors, that’s a real problem, particularly at a time when the middle-class is really suffering in this country,” Romney told Fox News early Monday.
“I think it stinks to high heaven.”
According to The Washington Post, nearly $4 billion in stimulus dollars went to companies with connections to Obama staffers and advisers, including some run by top Obama donors, but such connections did not have a role in funding decisions.
The rival videos can be viewed here:
Romney campaign ad: http://www.mittromney.com/s/political-payoffs-and-middle-class-layoffs
Obama ad on the official Obama YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud3mMj0AZZk&feature=plcp
