New Obama ad mocks Romney singing "America the Beautiful"
(CBS News) Continuing its two recent lines of attack, President Obama's campaign on Saturday released a new ad featuring reports about Mitt Romney's offshore assets and history with a company that shipped American jobs overseas. The ad's soundtrack? A rendition of "America the Beautiful," sung by the presumptive GOP nominee himself.
"America, America, God shed His grace on thee..." Romney is heard singing in video from a January campaign stop in The Villages, Fla., as clips from ABC News and Vanity Fair flash on the screen: "He had millions in a Swiss bank account... Tax havens like Bermuda... And the Cayman Islands."
Articles from the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe are also showcased to focus the spotlight on Romney's past at the private equity firm Bain Capital, which sent American jobs overseas: "Mitt Romney's firms shipped jobs to Mexico. And China," the ad shows. "As Governor, Romney outsourced jobs to India."
The debate currently raging in the campaign is whether Romney was actively managing Bain while these jobs moved out of the U.S.
"Mitt Romney's not the solution; he's the problem," the ad concludes, as Romney fades out on "Crown they good with brotherhood..."
It's not the first time Romney's ballad has come back to haunt him. "The Late Show With David Letterman" uses it in a regular bit, during which Letterman plays the video backwards. But questions about Romney's finances and history at Bain have amassed in an onslaught over the past few weeks.
"The Obama campaign appears to be stuck in their own 'Groundhog Day,' repeating the same, debunked charges they've waged for weeks in an effort to distract voters from his administration's failure to fix the economy and create jobs," Romney spokesperson Amanda Henneberg said in a statement.
Andrea Saul, another Romney spokesperson, told CBS News in a statement, "It is sad and shameful that President Obama would mock 'America The Beautiful.' But sadly it's not surprising for the man who launched his presidency with an apology tour. The 'Uncle Jims' of our country - as he condescendingly calls middle-class Americans - don't believe in mocking America The Beautiful and don't believe in apologizing for America."
