Pa. GOP Pollster: Bain Ads Worked

[ProSense]

Pa. GOP Pollster: Bain Ads Worked

Pollster Jim Lee of Susquehanna Research, a Pennsylvania-based firm that frequently polls for the state's Republican Party, said on a conference all with reporters that the attacks on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record as CEO of Bain Captial from Democrats have made a big difference in his state.

"I think the Bain Capital ads that the president’s run and that his super PACs have run have stopped some of Mitt Romney’s growth in the Western part of the state, with working class voters and our polling is showing that the race is tighter out there in Southwestern PA with these blue-collar Reagan democrats that have been paying attention to the ads and the race is more competitive there for the president than it would normally be if you look at the McCain numbers from four years ago," Lee said as reported by Politico. "So that’s an area of the state where I would say the president’s message that he better understands the middle class is resonating and represents a potential problem for Mitt Romney."

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Pennsylvania Democrats posted audio from the call:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/pa-gop-pollster-bain-ads-worked

Previosuly, I posted this Krugman comment and point about Bain and the 47 percent comment.

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And here’s the thing: Romney is running for president entirely on the basis of his business success...Once the Bain record becomes a liability instead of a strength, there’s nothing there.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/business-is-not-economics/

The reason Mitt is taking a huge hit on his 47 percent comment is because his credibility was on the slide. People forget the relentless Bain criticisms and those on Romney's tax proposal when he was labeled Romneyhood. The ads helped to erase Romney's edge on the economy. The media/factcheckers tried to intervene, but they couldn't effectively spin away the facts of Bain.

By the time the conventions rolled around, Romney was bruised and his advantage on the economy was slipping away. The chair debacle at the RNC further eroded his credibility. The DNC put the nail in the coffin, especially since Mitt failed to get the edge he was hoping for from the August jobs report.

Mitt skated as long as he could, but it was only a matter of time before the media and his allies would be unable to shield him from himself. The aftermath of the conventions was just such a time when more and more Americans were tuning in. Mitt screwed up, and then screwed up again, and again.

He went Palin on Russia, and now he has basically entered the "I'm not a witch" stage. (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021421930)

[onehandle]

1. I'll be So glad when both camp's ads are off of Hulu here. C'mon, November. nt

[rfranklin]

2. I would watch Obama commercials for a year straight to beat Romney...

Last edited Fri Sep 28, 2012, 05:00 PM - Edit history (1)

I remember Bush.

[ProSense]

5. No kidding. n/t

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. amazing, the occasional power of truth....if only truth worked all the time!

[reformist2]

4. Gingrich's SuperPAC deserves credit for some serious early damage.

"When Mitt Romney Came to Town" has been floating around the internet for months now. Who knows how many millions of independents/undecideds have seen it, even pieces of it.

[ProSense]

6. Mitt Romney didn't start dropping in the polls until Bain.

Nothing before that stuck. The media and everyone kept giving Mitt a pass.

In fact, it wasn't until Bain that the media panicked, declaring the ads a "low blow!" They tried to create the impression that these ads were embellishments.

The next time they freaked was on the tax returns.

[reformist2]

7. I swear, "When Mitt Romney Came to Town" is a work of genius.

Watching it again, months later, practically brings me to tears all over again.

[ProSense]

10. Maybe, but it was really a blip.

It was too long, and was out there for months. The media paid no attention. Again, the ad hits got them to take notice, and these were very effective.

As recently as early September, there was at least one media report trying to downplay the effects.

WaPo article: forget Bain, it's only "hurting Romney among a significant number of voters"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021321448

[Tarheel_Dem]

9. The most powerful ad, to date, is the worker describing feverishly building a platform for a big....

Bain announcement. It is the most hard hitting, and most devestating ad to which anyone who's ever been fired, or even known the possibility of being laid off, can relate to. Everytime I've seen that ad, it literally gives me chills to hear this man speaking of unwittingly building his own coffin.

[hifiguy]

13. That was an incredibly powerul ad.

It gave me the chills the first time I saw it. That is something that resonates on a deep, gut level with working people.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. Exactly, and I think it should be played in heavy rotation from now til election day.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. I think the 47% & the term "victim" hit some of them hard

I am actually surprised too. The one thing that the blue collars here in PA don't like is those "snooty elitists" and Rmoney is the embodiment of that. They would just assume sit home or just not vote the top of the ticket rather than select Rmoney.

[Zambero]

11. "I am not a warlock plutocrat"....

But I can see the Caymans from my hidden stash investment portfolio.

[winstars]

12. Glad that we listened to Cory Booker's expertise on what ads Obama should put up in Pennsylvania!!!