Romney attacks Obama's negative campaigning with a negative ad of his own

ByABC News
July 15, 2012, 3:44 PM

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Mitt Romney is responding to what he calls President Barack Obama's "negative" campaigning with a new negative ad of his own.

A new Romney television ad released Sunday features a series of political pundits questioning whether Obama has abandoned his message of "hope and change" to pursue attacks on the presumptive Republican nominee.

"When the president was elected, he talked about hope and change. Whatever happened to hope and change?" CBS News's Bob Schieffer is shown saying. "Now it seems he's just coming right out of the box with these old fashioned, negative ads."

The 30-second ad also features the New York Times' David Brooks, who mentions Obama's "inaccurate ads." It also features a clip from a MSNBC interview in June with Time Magazine's Mark Halperin, who says Obama and his allies "will run more negative ads against this Republican nominee, in 2012, than have ever been run in the history of the world."

The ad concludes by repeating footage of Schieffer asking, "Whatever happened to hope and change?"

The Romney campaign has not said where the ad will air or how much media time it has reserved for the spot.

Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign slammed the spot, suggesting Romney is trying to avoid questions about his record at Bain Capital.

"Mitt Romney can continue to run ads bemoaning serious questions about his career as a corporate buyout specialist, but he can't run from his record of leading investments in companies that were 'pioneers' in outsourcing and investing in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts," Smith said in an email.