Is Romney's Bain Record a Winning Issue for Obama? >
Obama Has a Right to Question Romney's Business Credentials
Questioning Romney's record at Bain is the best way to undermine his campaign
May 23, 2012
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.
Karl Rove believes the best way to damage a candidacy is to undermine the candidate's strength. Mitt Romney is running as the guy with the experience to fix the economy. Making the sale against the bully from Bain is the best way to undermine Romney's campaign. Democrats learned this lesson the hard way in 2004 when the Swift Boat Veterans destroyed the military credentials that were a big part of Jon Kerry's campaign.
Voters don't want a cold, calculating corporate CEO running the economy. Like a lot of other "corporate vultures" (Rick Perry's words), Mitt made a mint shutting down companies, laying off hard-working employees, and sending American jobs to other countries. America needs more jobs, not fewer of them.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 campaign.]
Mitt Romney's version of cold-blooded capitalism won't fly with the working families who are teetering at the edge of economic oblivion after decades of downsizing and income stagnation. A few guys like Romney and his banker buddies on Wall Street made fortunes as corporate pirates while worker productivity increased and wages declined. Americans won't buy the Romney model as a way to fix an ailing economy.
While I'm on the subject, I disagree with Cory Booker's critique of the validity of the issue. Romney's record at Bain is fair game. He is running on his record as businessman. Americans have the right to hear the evidence and judge for themselves whether the Bain capitalist helped or hurt the economy while he ran the company.
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- Other Arguments
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#110112
No — Success at Bain and elsewhere shows Romney's strength as a businessman, draws sharp contrast with Obama's debt
FORD O'CONNELL, Republican Strategist, Conservative Activist, and Political Analyst
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#210923
No — Obama is in danger of condemning the capitalist system that made America prosper by vilifying Romney
STEPHANIE SLADE, Project Director at The Winston Group
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#35111
No — The president needs a new plan of attack against Romney, and to get his team on message with it
JAMIE CHANDLER, Political Scientist at Hunter College
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#44512
No — Polls show Bain Capital is Mitt Romney's strength and Obama's weakness
MERCEDES SCHLAPP, Cofounder of Cove Strategies
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#5399
No — Attack son Romney's Bain record open the door for criticism of Obama's presidency
LARA BROWN, Author of 'Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism of Aspirants'
