President Obama's campaign on Tuesday released a new Web video accusing Mitt Romney of running a dirty campaign.
"Mitt Romney says he wants to run on the issues. But these are the ads he's running," reads text in the new video.
The Web video is another attempt by Obama's campaign to counteract Romney's recent charge that the president has reversed Clinton-era welfare reforms by loosening welfare-to-work requirements. Romney has released a TV ad and several
videos seeking to cast doubt on Obama's claim to strengthening the program, while Obama has fired back in his
own TV ad that Romney's claims are false.
“The facts are clear: President Obama's executive action dismantles welfare-to-work and undermines the very premise of bipartisan welfare reform," Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in response to the video. "As president, Mitt Romney will immediately rescind the Obama executive action and ensure that work requirements are a part of welfare. On this issue, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama couldn’t be further apart.”
The new Obama video was released the same day Romney's campaign expanded its ad buy for a commercial blaming the president for a negative attack ad produced by Priorities USA, the super-PAC supporting Obama.
“What does it say about a president’s character when his campaign tries to use the tragedy of a woman’s death for political gain?” Romney's ad asks.
Monday on the campaign trail, Romney blasted Obama for failing to denounce the ad, which links Obama to the death of a woman from cancer, saying, “Mr. President, get your campaign out of the gutter."
But Obama's campaign says it's hypocritical for Romney to criticize the president, even using a clip of Romney's line. "Mr. Romney, take your own advice," text reads on the video.
"Mitt Romney says he wants to run a clean campaign, but yesterday his campaign released yet another false attack ad," reads a press release from Obama's campaign. "Mitt Romney may think his only path to victory is through running false ads like this one, but the American people deserve better."
Updated at 11:38 a.m.
