Mitt Romney's Record Justifies Barack Obama's Attacks

About Brad Bannon:

Brad Bannon is president of Bannon Communications Research, a political polling and consulting firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups, and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns.

There was a time long ago and far away when there was a standard operating procedure for campaign advertising. The candidate would start with a soft bio spot that would establish his or her bona fides. Once the candidate built a foundation of credibility, the next step was to carpet bomb the opponent. This traditional pattern of advertising is now as antique as people sending handwritten letters to each other. The SOP created by GOP strategist Karl Rove is to kill the opposition in the cradle.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 campaign.]

Democrats have tactical and programmatic reasons for going hard after the GOP nominee. All you have to do to tactically justify the Democratic ad assault on Mitt Romney is to examine the latest NBC News and Wall Street Journal national survey.

• The Obama campaign needs to define Romney before he defines himself. One in four Americans still doesn't have a clear view of the GOP nominee.
• One of the few institutions that Americans trust less than the federal government is the financial industry in which Romney made his fortune. Only one of every 10 people has confidence in the money changers in the temple.
• The few people who know anything about Bain Capital don't like the company but more than half don't have any opinion of Romney's company at all.

[See a collection of political cartoons on Mitt Romney.]

Besides the political reasons for Democrats to go after the former corporate CEO, there are policy considerations.

• It's time for Democrats to put the ball back into the GOP court where it belongs. A Republican president created this mess and every time President Obama initiates a proposal to fix it, congressional Republicans shoot it down without any consideration.
• Bain Capital is a case study of the cut throat capitalism that tanked the economy in the first place. As CEO of Bain, Romney put profits before people and built his fortune on layoffs and job exports. The last thing the country needs is the Bain Capital model which eliminates jobs and creates even more income inequality than we already have.

All is fair in love and war but there's nothing fair about the behavior of Romney and the other corporate vultures that have preyed on working Americans for the last 30 years.

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Tags:

2012 presidential election,

Mitt Romney,

Barack Obama