Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting President Obama’s reelection, will go on the air in New Hampshire with an ad targeting Mitt Romney on his record at Bain Capital.
The super-PAC said the spot will run on Friday — the same day that Romney is in New Hampshire for the start of a five-day bus tour that will take him through six key states.
Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney co-founded, is mentioned three times in the ad, which uses footage from a news report discussing the firm’s takeover of Holson Burnes.
“Bain doubled its $10 million investment into the clock and photo supply company, but workers in New Hampshire lost their jobs as the company consolidated its operations overseas,” says the anchor in the news report.
Bain responded to the ad by calling its suggestions about the company "simply false" and a distortion of the company's record.
"The Claremont, N.H. plant was closed in 2005, 10 years after Bain Capital sold its ownership stake in the company. During its ownership Bain Capital grew Holson Burnes dramatically, investing millions of dollars and a great deal of time to improve Holson Burnes’ competitiveness and building the Claremont, N.H. plant into the world’s largest manufacturing facility for photo albums," said Bain spokeswoman Charlyn Lusk.
But the Democratic super-PAC's top strategist, Bill Burton, maintained that Romney profited from layoffs and bankruptcies while New Hampshire families lost jobs and retirement benefits.
“President Obama’s allies are using false attacks to distract voters from the President’s out of touch comments that the private sector is ‘doing fine.’ Middle-class Americans aren’t doing fine and President Obama’s policies have not helped," said Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. "Twenty-three million Americans are struggling for work, incomes have fallen, and gas prices have doubled.”
Priorities USA has been teaming up with other groups this cycle to bolster Obama and attack his GOP opponent. On Monday, the group announced it was joining forces with the Service Employees International Union to launch a $4 million blitz of Spanish-language ads targeting Romney.
Obama's campaign has moved away from attacks on Bain in recent weeks after blowback from Democrats who called out the campaign for attacking private equity. Instead, Obama's team has been focusing on Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts.
- This story was posted at 4:36 p.m. and has been updated.
