Obama attack ads prove Romney an achiever

The Obama campaign and a Super PAC introduced uncoordinated strikes in ads against Mitt Romney's record of job creation at Bain Capital. One worker in the ad was quoted as saying, "When we made money, Bain made money. When we lost money, Bain made money. …" Another said, "It was like a vampire, they came in and sucked the life out of us and left." The ads characterize Romney as a "cold, heartless, money-grubbing capitalist," who made money at the expense of the little guy, leaving others with nothing.

The ads raise a question: Was it Romney's objective at Bain Capital to create jobs or to make money for shareholders at Bain? The answer is obvious. Did Romney accomplish his objective? The ads answer the question unequivocally, "Yes!"

The Romney campaign was wise to respond to the ads by saying that if President Obama wants to shift the campaign discussion toward the economy, "then bring it on!" But the Romney campaign would be wise to change the focus of from "Romney the Job Creator" to "Romney the Doer." Romney does what he sets his sights on achieving. His sights at Bain Capital were set on "profits" for his shareholders. He accomplished that. When he moved to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, his sights were re-aimed at achieving a well-run, exemplary, and fiscally responsible event. He accomplished those objectives.

The point for the campaign must be this: "When Romney's sights are set on improving this economy, his record says he will achieve that objective." This is not pie in the sky "Hope and Change." This is a proven fact, borne out even in these attack ads. Romney's objective at Bain was not job creation, or even long-term stable growth. It was making money. A venture capital firm is in business of providing capital for short periods of time and then moving on to another venture. It is not generally long-term stable capital.