Photo courtesy of Boston.com
By Rebecca DiFede — In an attempt to smear Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich made Anti-Romney ads that portrayed him as the money-grubbing CEO of Bain Capital, concerned only with himself while Americans starved.
These ads featured dramatic music, touching interviews of those who had felt the brunt of the economic crash, and perfectly out-of-context snippets emblazoned across iconic pictures of “greedy people”; old white men smoking cigars, drinking scotch, and counting money. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that it was the trailer for the third installment of Wall Street.
The purpose of these was to synonymize Romney’s name with Gordon Gekko’s, however the effect was exactly the opposite. The challenge they brought against Bain Capital’s business practices not only didn’t convince voters, but Rick Perry actually lost a major supporter because of them. Barry Wynn, a part of Perry’s finance team was so disgusted with the allegations against Bain that he has joined Team Romney, much to the chagrin of the Perry campaign.
And as proof that greed really is good (at least for Romney), both Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, despite their very expensive cheap shots, fell way short of their expectations in New Hampshire. Both candidates have also taken significant hits in the polls, and South Carolina is looking bleak.
Mitt Romney, however, has gained some popularity, especially after fellow candidate Ron Paul stood up for him in the wake of the Bain Capital scandal. This also benefitted Paul, who saw some growth in his numbers as well, and the predictions for South Carolina are only sweetening the deal.
So while Perry and Gingrich thought they were being smart by paying major cash for video clips that trashed Romney as a “vulture capitalist”, it was their bones that were picked clean by the voters when push came to shove.
Even Independent voters who participated in the Republican primary favored Romney over Perry and Gingrich, and proved that after four years of Obama, they are no longer going to be swayed by over-edited ads with hyperbole even a Justin Bieber swooning teenage girl would say was too much.
So case and point: voters appreciate Bain Capital for operating like a business, so try not to attack capitalism or else feel the wrath of the voter scorned.
Rebecca DiFede is a contributing editor to Americans for Limited Government.
