The Democratic National Committee is using General Motor's announcement of a record $7.6 billion profit to hit Mitt Romney, who has criticized the bailout of GM and Chrysler.
"Thanks to the sacrifice and determination of workers and management, and the faith of the president who bet on them, GM and Chrysler are back," on-screen text reads. "American taxpayers are being repaid. Instead of going under, automakers are adding plants, shifts, and jobs."
Video of Romney decrying the bailout is then spliced between autoworkers skeptical that a nongovernment entity could have helped the industry in the same way. The ad concludes with President Obama arguing the "lesson" of the auto bailout was not to "bet against America. Don't bet against the American auto industry. Don't bet against American ingenuity. Don't bet against the American worker. Don't bet against us."
The attack comes a little more than a week before the Michigan primary. Romney is struggling in Michigan, where his father served as a popular governor. A Detroit News poll this week showed Rick Santorum holding a 4 percentage point lead over Romney.
Romney has argued against the bailout, stating that the U.S. comapnies wouldhave been better served by a managed bankruptcy that would have not cost taxpayer dollars.
"Instead of the free market doing what it does best, we got a major taste of crony capitalism," Romney wrote in the Detroit News Tuesday.
Democrats are seizing on the auto industry's recovery to paint Romney as out-of-touch and having "bet against America."
In the video, a montage of news clips heralds the recovery as a positive step forward for the economy.
Romney was campaigning in Michigan Thursday.
