Mitt Romney's campaign on Tuesday released a new ad with a more positive tone.
The ad features the candidate speaking directly to the camera, arguing for his qualifications rather than attacking his opponent.
It comes after weeks of bruising and increasingly nasty attack ads from both Romney's and President Obama's campaign that have flooded television networks in swing states.
The commercial comes just a few short days after Obama's campaign team released a new set of ads that similarly feature the candidate speaking plainly to the camera. The shift in tone was seen as a nod to polls that showed the candidate's personal popularity sagging after a series of tough attack ads.
In the new spot, Romney discusses his time as a business owner at Bain Capital, his tenure leading the Salt Lake City Games, and his term as governor of Massachusetts.
“I know what it’s like to hire people and to wonder whether you’re going to be able to make ends meet down the road," Romney, who appears to be driving a truck, says to the camera. “Freedom and free enterprise are what create jobs, not government.”
After detailing his qualifications, Romney says he wants "to use those experiences to help Americans have a better future.”
The ad concludes with a title card reading, "Believe in the America you built, believe we can build it again."
The Romney campaign said the commercial was intended to show that its candidate "has what it takes to turn troubled enterprises around."
"As president, everything he does will be focused on restoring economic security for the middle class and helping our country achieve a brighter future," said Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg in an email.
Interestingly, the Romney ad is paid for not by the Romney campaign but by the Republican National Committee. That's likely because of the Romney campaign's emphasis on large-dollar donations to a joint victory fund with the national committee, which limits the cash available directly to the campaign but allows Romney to bring in huge amounts of cash, as he has done over the past two months.
The RNC did not say which states the ad will air in, or what amount of money is behind the buy, but the commercial will likely be featured across all of the in-play swing states.
