Persistent Obama jabs at Romney’s record on jobs

Associated Press

CLIFTON, Va.

An unrelenting President Barack Obama jabbed at Mitt Romney’s record with a private-equity firm in an ad Saturday that aimed to keep his rival on the defensive just as the Republican challenger’s campaign hoped to take advantage of poor economic data to gain an edge on the incumbent.

Obama met Romney’s plea for an apology for the attacks with a mocking ad that charged that the firm shipped American jobs to China and Mexico, that Romney has personal wealth in investments in Switzerland, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, and that as Massachusetts governor, he sent state jobs to India.

“Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem,” the ads says as Romney is heard singing “America the Beautiful.”

Pressure was building on Romney from within his own party to be more forthcoming with his finances, a day after he declared he would not release past income-tax returns beyond his 2010 tax records and, before the November election, his 2011 taxes.

On the sidelines of the National Governors Association meeting in Williamsburg, Alabama’s Republican governor, Robert Bentley, called on Romney to release all the documents requested of him.

“If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong,” Bentley said. “I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.”

After Democrats seized on his words, Bentley later said he still believes Romney’s taxes should be released and he believes in transparency, but he’s wasn’t implying that Romney has anything to hide.