With the first presidential debate just a week away, President Barack Obama’s campaign has shown no signs of letting up. A new ad released from the president’s camp uses Romney’s now infamous 47 percent comments against him, using the GOP’s candidates own recorded words against him. Running over Romney’s comments to a private audience are images of common Americans, the ones who the Obama campaign would leave to believe are among those that Romney will not “worry about.”
Romney’s audio is the only sound present through out the video, insuring that the Republican nominee’s remarks will not soon be forgotten by the voting public. Recent polls in the wake of the 47 percent scandal have shown Obama taking a strong lead in some of the swing states that will be key to November’s election. The spot, titled “My Job” will air in some of those same swing states, including Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Virginia and Colorado.
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what … who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” Romney said during the Florida fundraiser. “And so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
As Democrats prepare to make their final push into office, billionaire George Soros has donated $1 million to super PAC Priorities USA Action, a group supporting Obama’s push for re-election. In addition, Soros gave a total of $500,000 to the House Majority PAC and the Senate Majority PAC. Soros released a statement via email to the Democracy Alliance, explaining his initial reluctance to contribute to the new age of Super PACs and seemingly unlimited campaign spending.
“I fully support the re-election of President Obama,” Mr. Soros said in the email. However, after witnessing the spending of Republican PAC groups, he described himself as “appalled by the Romney campaign which is openly soliciting the money of the rich to starve the state of the money it needs to provide social services.”
Soros had been one of the president’s critics following the 2010 elections, suggesting that donors support other Democratic candidates. Still, his donations in this election pale in comparison to the $30 he donated in 2004 in the effort to defeat President George W. Bush.
Romney’s comments may have provided the Democratic campaigns with enough fuel to carry them through the rest of the election, having provided plenty of fodder for fresh political attacks. His clashes with Obama during this month’s three presidential debates will be his only sure opportunity to shift momentum back in his favor.