The Obama campaign continued to focus on Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts record, releasing a new negative ad this morning on the topic:
“Having abandoned ‘Hope and Change,’ the Obama campaign only ‘Hopes To Change The Subject’ from an abysmal jobs report,” responded Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul in a statement. “We’re happy to compare the 4.7 percent unemployment rate Mitt Romney achieved in Massachusetts to President Obama’s weak record any day. President Obama’s policies have failed to get Americans back to work – it’s time for a president who has worked in the real world economy and understands how to get this economy moving again.”
The Romney campaign argued yesterday that while it was accurate that Massachusetts was 47th in job-creation during Romney’s tenure, the state had a “turnaround” of sorts, going from last in the nation to 30th in job-creation. And regarding the call-center charge (“Instead of hiring workers from his own state, Romney outsourced call center jobs to India,”) it’s worth noting that even the Boston Globe sided with Romney on his decision to veto legislation that would have made it illegal for the state government to hire companies that planned to outsource even some of the work: “Another section that would discourage the state from doing business with companies that outsource work to foreign countries should be vetoed,” wrote the Globe. “The state contracting process is a poor tool to address globalization.”