The word “devastating” is overused in political commentary, but I can’t think of a better way to describe the television commercial President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign rolled out today. The fifth commercial the president’s team has run in Iowa since the beginning of April is in my opinion the most effective by far. (The previous ads claimed Republican Mitt Romney “stood with Big Oil,” accused Romney of shipping jobs overseas and maintaining a Swiss bank account, put a positive spin on Obama’s record, and highlighted the unpopular decision to bail out the auto industry.)
The new spot is two minutes long and features workers who lost their jobs after Bain Capital took over GST Steel in Kansas City. The video and transcript are after the jump. UPDATE: Added a new web video from the Romney campaign and two new anti-Obama commercials the American Future Fund is running on cable television in several swing states.
According to an Obama for America press release on May 14, “Steel” is running on television networks in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Virginia. I am seeking further details on which media markets in Iowa have been targeted and whether the ad is up on broadcast networks as well as cable.
My annotated transcript:
Joe Soptic voice-over: I was a steel worker for 30 years. [Viewer sees Soptic putting on a steel worker’s hard hat.]
We had a reputation for quality products. [Soptic speaks to camera; words on screen Joe Soptic Steelworker, 30 years]
It was something that was American-made [footage from steel factory, words on screen GST Steel Kansas City, MO]
and we weren’t rich, but I was able to put my daughter through college. [Soptic speaking to camera again, then footage of worker driving vehicle at steel mill]
John Wiseman: Having a good-paying job that you can support and raise a family on is hugely important. [Wiseman speaks to camera, words on screen John Wiseman Steelworker, 28 years; brief footage of workers in steel mill]
Soptic voice-over: That stopped with the sale of the plant to Bain Capital. [Old black and white photo of Romney in front of Bain and Company logo; words on screen Mitt Romney Founder, CEO Bain Capital]
Clip of Romney speaking at unidentified town-hall meeting: I know how business works. I know why jobs come and why they go.
David Foster: Bain Capital was the majority owner. [Foster speaks, words on screen David Foster Lead negotiator for workers at GST Steel]
Foster: They were responsible. Mitt Romney was deeply involved in the influence that he exercised over these companies. [photo of Romney at office desk, speaking on the phone; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Soptic voice-over: They made as much money off it as they could, and they closed it down, they filed for bankruptcy without any concern for the families of the communities. [Footage of Soptic shaking his head, newspaper clippings about plant closing down, headlines “750 workers to lose jobs in plant closing,” “Shutdown is end of an era”; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Jack Cobb voice-over: It’s like a vampire. They came in and sucked the life out of us. [Two workers sit next to each other, captioned Andy Cruz Steelworker, 29 years and Jack Cobb Steelworker, 31 years]
Soptic voice-over: It was like watching an old friend bleed to death. [footage of wreckage where plant apparently used to be; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Romney voice: As I look around at the millions of Americans without work, [footage of rundown, deserted lot, apparently where GST Steel used to be; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Romney: It breaks my heart. [footage from Romney victory speech after unidentified primary; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Wiseman: Bain Capital sought elimination of the pension plan and termination of employee and retiree life insurance and health insurance. [Wiseman speaks to camera, brief view of boarded-up business, view of pension agreement plan signed by Joseph Soptic Jr and a form listing an employee’s earnings record; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Soptic voice-over: I was devastated. It makes me angry. Those guys were all rich, they all have more money than they’ll ever spend, yet they didn’t have the money to take care of the very people that made the money for them. [Soptic speaks to camera, Soptic looks somber with boarded-up buildings in background, view of abandoned lot with junk piled up, Soptic speaks on camera toward end; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Wiseman: Bain Capital walked away with a lot of money that they made off this plant. [Wiseman speaks to camera; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Wiseman: We view Mitt Romney as a job destroyer. [Viewer sees stock photo of Romney; banner at bottom of screen reads Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com]
Cobb voice-over: To get up on national tv and brag about making jobs when he has destroyed thousands of people’s careers, lifetimes, just destroyed people. [viewer seeks Cobb sitting next to Cruz, then camera pans over newspaper headline: “Romney firm: Profits first,”]
Soptic voice-over: He’s running for president, and if he’s going to run the country the way he ran our business, I wouldn’t want him there. [camera continues to pan over newspaper headline about Romney firm putting profits first]
Soptic: He would be so out of touch with the average person in this country. [camera pans on black and white photo of Romney sitting at a table, apparently about to sign papers]
Soptic: How could you care? How could you care for the average working person if you feel that way? [Soptic speaks to camera, disgusted look on his face.]
Soft music, no voice-over. Banner takes up most of screen: Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com
Obama voice-over: I’m Barack Obama, and I approved this message. [photo of Obama with Obama/Biden campaign logo and paid for message on screen]
Republicans can scream about the president demonizing private capital, but in my opinion this ad is 100 percent fair. In his stump speech, Romney claims that because of his private sector experience, he understands how jobs are created. It is legitimate to look at how Bain Capital managed its investments, and for whose benefit.
During most of this commercial, a banner advises viewers to “Get the full story at RomneyEconomics.com.” That site has lots more information about GST Steel.
GST Steel: Bankruptcy and bailouts
Kansas City’s GST Steel was a successful company that had been making steel rods for 103 years when Mitt Romney and his partners took control in 1993. They cut corners and extracted profit from the business at every turn, placing it deeply in debt. When the company eventually declared bankruptcy, workers were denied their full pensions and health insurance, and the federal government was forced to step in and bail out the pension fund.
At this writing, the Romney Economics page has been shared on Facebook about 5,000 times and linked on Twitter about 1,500 times. This commercial reinforces the worst possible narrative about Romney, and I don’t know what he can say about it, other than change the subject.
Romney is coming to Des Moines tomorrow to deliver a speech at Drake University about the national debt and alleged federal government overspending. It will be his first Iowa visit since the caucuses in January. Although his message about the debt will resonate with part of the electorate, I don’t see “overspending” as a promising theme for his general election campaign. Romney needs to convince Americans that Obama has been a poor manager of the economy, and that he can do better. Obama is counting on voters not to fire him in order to hire the founder of Bain Capital. I’m sure the firm some have described as “vulture capitalists” will feature in many more political ads between now and November.
Any comments about the presidential campaign are welcome in this thread.
UPDATE: The Romney campaign released this web video about a Bain success story, but for now the video isn’t running as a paid advertisement on television.
Benjy Sarlin reports,
Obama campaign officials pointed out on Monday that Bain only owned a minority stake in Steel Dynamics, while they had controlling interest in GST Steel after a leveraged buyout, giving them a more active role in its operations. Romney has tended to play up success stories in which Bain acted as a venture capital investor to start-ups – like his biggest triumph, Staples – rather than Bain’s private equity operations, which make up the bulk of the company’s portfolio and are more associated with politically sensitive practices like layoffs or stripping down companies to boost profits.
The 501(c)4 group American Future Fund released two new commercials on May 14 that depict Obama as too close to Wall Street. One is slightly adapted from a version produced in February.
“Obama’s Wall Street” is running in Iowa and several other swing states.
I haven’t seen a list of states where the other new American Future Fund commercial is running. However, since the group’s founder, Nick Ryan, is based in Iowa, I assume that “Justice For Sale” is running here. I will update this post if I can confirm any details on the cable television buy:
I agree that the Obama administration is way too close to Wall Street, but it’s rich to hear that criticism coming from a conservative group like the American Future Fund. I certainly wouldn’t expect a crackdown on Wall Street corruption from a Romney administration.