But not without controversy: Romney’s 60-second television ad, set to go on the air in New Hampshire on Tuesday, but revealed on Hannity tonight, uses an out-of-context Obama quote as the centerpiece of the spot. Obama’s remark: “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” It sounds like he’s talking about himself in the present, but the full quote, pulled from a 2008 campaign stop in New Hampshire, is actually a knock on Obama’s then-opponent, John McCain. The full quote from Obama: “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.’” The president’s team has responded by calling the clip “a deceitful and dishonest attack.”
“While the President brought us back from the brink of another depression and is fighting everyday to restore economic security for the middle class, Mitt Romney opposes the President’s plan to create 2 million jobs and instead proposes a return to the same economic policies that led to the recession,” an Obama spokesman added for good measure.
Expecting a fight, Romney’s communications director, Gail Gitcho, had already written an e-mail defending the usage of the old quote: “Three years ago, candidate Barack Obama mocked his opponent’s campaign for saying ‘if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose,’” said Gitcho. “Now, President Obama’s campaign is desperate not to talk about the economy. Their strategy is to wage a personal campaign — or ‘kill Romney.’ It is a campaign of distraction.”
According to the Times, Gitcho added that “the tables have turned,” implying that the line Obama once used against McCain could now be leveled against Obama himself. Here’s the $134,000 ad buy in all of its glory:
This post has been updated throughout.
