During the 2008 campaign, then Sen. Barack Obama ran an ad mocking a McCain campaign quote saying: “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Mitt Romney apparently thought it was an effective tactic and has turned the tables on the president.
The 60-second spot begins running in New Hampshire today, just as President Obama visits the state. It shows Obama using the aforementioned quote but cuts it off to deny viewers the full context, instead sneakily suggesting that the president was making the remark about his own campaign.
The Romney campaign is defending the ad, saying that the president is now doing exactly what he attacked McCain for doing during the last election.
“Every single day, like millions of Americans, we are going to talk about President Obama’s historic failure, and the need to get America back on track,” Romney communications director Gail Gitcho writes on the campaign blog. “President Obama will have to confront the promises made by candidate Obama.”
The ad is an incredibly low blow, and could very well backfire on Romney if the press continues to call him out for his blatant use of the out-of-context quote.
An Obama campaign spokesman told Politico’s Morning Score that the ad is “a deceitful and dishonest attack” meant to distract from Romney’s own record in Massachusetts. Think Progress calls it “blatantly dishonest” and the DNC says “it continues a pattern of dishonesty and a lack of credibility on issues that matter to the American people.”
Indeed, Romney seems to have lost the war of words on this one. A sampling of headlines from this morning indicates widespread disgust. “Romney Ad Misleads Its Way To Desired Result,” The Washington Post wrote. CBS News titled their piece “Mitt Romney Attack Ad Misleadingly Quotes Obama.” Business Insider pulled no punches, with the bold headline: “WATCH: Romney’s First Campaign Ad Tries To Pass Off McCain Quote As Obama.”
Check out the video below.
