Liberal Groups Target Romney in Florida

Updated: January 26, 2012 | 9:07 p.m.
January 26, 2012 | 9:03 a.m.

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Allstar Building Materials in Ormond Beach, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

A handful of liberal groups are planning a Florida assault on Mitt Romney, including an at least $1 million ad buy, The Washington Post reports.

The ad buy from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest public employee union in the U.S., will focus on Romney's stewardship of Bain Capital, the private-equity firm he co-founded. A Spanish-language radio campaign criticizing Romney's immigration stance has also been launched by the Service Employees International Union and the pro-Obama super PAC, Priorities USA Action.

The ad buys suggest that Democrats think they can derail Romney's campaign, The Post reports. Unions and other groups normally run political ads in general elections, but weighing in on a primary race is unusual, strategists told The Post.

A Romney spokeswoman assailed the push as a Democratic stategy to "kill Romney" and likened it to the way the Obama campaign targeted Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008.

Liberal groups are planning a Florida assault on Mitt Romney, including an at least $1 million ad buy, The Washington Post reports.

The ad buy from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the largest public-employee union in the U.S., will focus on Romney's stewardship of Bain Capital, the private equity firm he cofounded. A Spanish-language radio campaign criticizing Romney's immigration stance has also been launched by the Service Employees International Union and the pro-Obama super PAC, Priorities USA Action.

The ads suggest that Democrats think they can derail Romney's campaign, The Post reports. Unions and other groups normally run political ads in general elections, but weighing in on a primary race is unusual, strategists told the newspaper.

A Romney spokeswoman assailed the push as a Democratic stategy to "kill Romney" and likened it to the way the Obama campaign targeted Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008.

Romney is also under fire from the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning the Future, bankrolled by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. Adelson and his wife have contributed $10 million to the PAC, $6 million of which has been committed to advertising in Florida.

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