Mitt Romney went on the offensive Tuesday, hitting back against the Obama campaign's attacks on his record at Bain Capital, saying that Obama – not he – was the "outsourcer in chief."
It's a pivot on an Obama ad running in swing states that brands Romney as an "outsourcer in chief," saying his companies were "pioneers at shipping U.S. jobs overseas."
Leveling the same charge at Obama, Romney told nearly 1,000 supporters here in Grand Junction that Obama has been "outsourcing a good deal of American jobs himself."
"It is interesting that when it comes to outsourcing that this president has been outsourcing a good deal of American jobs himself by putting money into energy companies, solar and wind energy companies that end up making their products outside the United States," Romney said. "If there's an outsourcer in chief, it's the president of the United States, not the guy that's running to replace him."
Sorry Mittens, I don't think that classic GOP tactic of projection's gonna work this time. After all, there's plenty of evidence to remind everyone of who's really shitting in the pool:
Last month, Mitt Romney's campaign got into a dustup with the Washington Post after the newspaper reported that Bain Capital, the private equity firm the GOP presidential candidate founded, invested in several US companies that outsourced jobs to China and India. The campaign indignantly demanded a retraction, claiming that these businesses did not send jobs overseas while Romney was running Bain, and the Post stood by its investigation. Yet there is another aspect to the Romney-as-outsourcer controversy. According to government documents reviewed by Mother Jones, Romney, when he was in charge of Bain, invested heavily in a Chinese manufacturing company that depended on US outsourcing for its profits—and that explicitly stated that such outsourcing was crucial to its success.
This previously unreported deal runs counter to Romney's tough talk on the campaign trail regarding China. "We will not let China continue to steal jobs from the United States of America," Romney declared in February. But with this investment, Romney sought to make money off a foreign company that banked on American firms outsourcing manufacturing overseas.
Yes, Mittens, I know you tried to distance yourself from this stuff before, but that's like George Wallace trying to distance himself from his "Segregation Now" speech and his attempts to keep from getting "Out-niggered" by calling Dr. Martin Luther King "the real racist."
Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure I'll be hearing that very thing about the Civil Rights leader soon enough, if I haven't already (and didn't notice).
By the way, pity about your icy reception at the NAACP convention earlier. I swear, those Negros just don't know how to act, do they? Maybe it's because you started spouting things like this:
If you want a president who will make things better in the African American community, you are looking at him.
No, I don't think so, Mittens. The guy with the best chance of doing that is already at 1600 Pennsylvania Street, and he's not the one waxing the floors or delivering the pizzas.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post thinks the NAACP audience was being set up from the get-go:
Well, bravo to Mitt Romney for entering the lion’s den, getting briefly hooted down by a hostile crowd, and keeping your composure.
When Romney announced Wednesday to the NAACP convention his intention to “eliminate every non-essential, expensive program that I can find — and that includes Obamacare,” the crowd lustily booed, a media narrative was firmly established, and Republicans got exactly what they wanted.
"Well gee, I tried to reason with the blacks, but they simply wouldn't listen to me."
On the other hand, a respectful audience showing with polite little golf claps, as was done throughout his speech save for his dig against "Obamacare," would have been construed as "a surprising show of support from black voters for the GOP presidential candidate." The GOP knows how to work both angles.
Seems the peanut gallery's already having doubts about poor Mitt wasting his time with the blacks.
