Obama campaign ads say Romney would be ‘outsourcer in chief’

BOSTON -- The Obama campaign is taking its “outsourcing” warning to the airwaves.

New television advertisements airing in three states accuse Mitt Romney of being a potential “outsourcer in chief,” a buy that represents Team Obama’s latest attempt to capitalize on the business practices of the GOP presidential candidate at Bain Capital.

Two of the 30-second spots, airing in Iowa and Virginia, highlight the Washington Post report that characterized the former Massachusetts governor’s private equity firm as “pioneers of outsourcing,” investing in firms “that specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers to new facilities in low-wage countries.”

The third spot, airing in Ohio, takes a more pointed jab at Romney by invoking China as a political boogeyman. It plays off a recent Romney ad that stated the Republican would stand up to China in his first 100 days in office. “But would he?” the Obama ad fires back. “Romney’s never stood up to China. All he’s done is send them our jobs.” Ohio’s unemployment rate is points higher than Virginia’s and Iowa’s.

President Obama’s reelection team, which has long been building a case against Romney grounded in his time at Bain, seized on Friday’s Post report almost as soon as it appeared online, and called it an important moment in the campaign. Obama himself addressed it at a campaign stop the same afternoon, and followed up on it again Monday during a stop in New Hampshire.

Spending figures behind the new ad buys were not immediately available. But it’s a message that will figure heavily into campaign efforts in manufacturing states that are also top electoral prizes. Vice President Joe Biden, starting a campaign swing in Iowa on Tuesday, will contrast Romney’s “history of shipping American jobs overseas” with the president’s vision for boosting the middle class, a campaign spokesman said.

Obama will focus on the money chase Tuesday, with fundraisers in Atlanta and Miami. Speaking to donors Monday night outside Boston, the president warned of the Republicans’ spending advantage in the campaign.

“They’re betting they don’t have to offer much; they just say things aren’t good and it’s Obama’s fault,” the president said. But, he promised, “when we’re out there speaking truth, over time it breaks through.”