For months now, Mitt Romney has been on the defensive for his opposition to the auto bailout, but but a new campaign ad tries to flip the script, attacking President Obama on car dealership closures that came in the aftermath of the bailout that helped save General Motors and Chrysler.
The 30-second TV ad focuses on the plight of Al Zarzour, whom the ad identifies as a GM car salesman in Ohio, a state where Obama will be campaigning today. “The dream that we worked for, and that we worked so hard for, was gone,” he says, noting that more than 30 employees at the dealership lost their jobs after GM announced that they would be suspending his credit line.
A narrator intones: “In 2009, under the Obama administration’s bailout of General Motors, Ohio dealerships were forced to close.”
At one point the ad flashes on a hand-drawn picture of a man. A childish scrawl atop the picture reads: “My dad sells cars.”
The Romney campaign did not specify where the ad would be running.
Romney has had a difficult task trying to explain his stance on the auto bailout, which has been widely hailed as successful. In 2008, he came out against it, infamously writing a New York Times opinion piece headlined “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” Romney now says that his recommendation of allowing a “managed bankruptcy” has been vindicated because that was the path the administration ultimately took.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Leave A Comment