American Crossroads, the super PAC founded in part by Karl Rove, has cast a prominent Democrat for a key role in its latest large-scale ad buy targeting President Obama in several swing states.
The super PAC is debuting a $9.3 million ad campaign calling out Obama with what the group calls “very real third-party criticism of the president’s negative ads.” Among the critics featured: Media fact-checkers who have made appearances in ads on both sides, and former DNC Chairman Ed Rendell, who called out the Obama campaign last week for suggesting Mitt Romney could have committed a felony if he provided misleading information to the SEC about his position at Bain Capital.
It’s not the first time Rendell, an Obama supporter, has given Republicans fodder. The Romney campaign sent out a Rendell quote about Obama’s Bain ads in May, where he called the negative tone of the ads “disappointing” (but also said Romney made Bain “fair game.”)
Here’s the Rendell appearance Crossroads is citing in its new ad:
Democrats have similarly had a field day with Republicans who’ve called on Romney to release more tax returns. The attacks on Romney from fellow Republican presidential primary candidates were a key part of Obama’s early campaign messaging.
The ad will begin running Friday in the swing states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia for the next 11 days or longer, according to Crossroads. Here’s the ad:
