Democrats are preparing to use Donald Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE's business career against him in the general election, following the playbook used against Mitt Romney in 2012.

President Obama's campaign battered Romney over his business career, turning a central aspect of his life story — a successful career with Bain Capital — into a political liability.

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Now, Democrats are focused on hammering Trump’s business ventures, including his failed university, to make a broader argument about his fitness for office.

“Trump University, more than anything else, proves that Donald Trump is a con man who profited off of other people’s misery,” said Justin Barasky, the communications director at the pro-Clinton super-PAC Priorities USA.

“That strikes at the very heart of his campaign because Donald Trump claims that he is this super successful businessman and he’s so wealthy and that he’d run the country like he runs his businesses. One of the way he runs his business is willfully and personally taking advantage of people who are down on their luck.”

The sharpened focus on Trump University was spurred by the release of 381 documents in a federal class-action lawsuit that accuses the program of failing to keep its promises.

Democrats say the trove of documents are damaging for Trump.

Sales scripts showed that Trump University employees were told to encourage people to max out their credit cards in the program. The employees were also instructed to aggressively seek enrollment in the $35,000 gold elite program.

The documents offer suggestions for finding potential customers, highlighting that “a single parent of three children that may need money for food” could be a good target for enrollment.

And an affidavit from a sales manager claimed: “Trump University was a fraudulent scheme, and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated.”

Trump’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment about the court documents or the attacks from Democrats.

But he’s repeatedly trumpeted his innocence during rallies and press conferences, while also accusing the judge in the case of bias because of his Hispanic heritage.

“This case was turned down by almost every attorney general from Texas to Florida and other states,” he said Friday on CNN.

“The best lawyers, I’ve spoken to so many lawyers that say this is not a case.”

The Trump campaign has released a video with former students speaking out in support of the university.

But Democratic groups, as well as likely nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE, have made clear they won’t let the Trump University issue go away.

“This is just more evidence that Donald Trump himself is a fraud. He is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump University,” Clinton said during a rally on Wednesday.

Clinton’s campaign has already accused Trump of rooting for the housing market crash, chided his businesses bankruptcies, and questioned whether he could handle running the economy.

And the pro-Clinton super-PAC is in the middle of a $6 million ad buy in swing states intended to portray him as an unsuccessful businessman.

The attacks are similar to the ones Democrats used against Romney, including ads were people talked about losing their jobs because of deals made by Bain Capital.

The complaints about Trump University could be used in similar ads, said Lis Smith, an Obama 2012 staffer who worked as Martin O’Malley’s deputy campaign manager in 2016.

“With both of these, you can produce devastating ads with people who are victims of Bain’s ruthless tactics and Trump University’s fraudulent schemes,” she said.

“Real life, visual, concrete examples help drive home the message, and I think that’s why they are very similar.”

Jessica Mackler, the president of the American Bridge, called the Trump University case “at the core” of the Democrats’ overall message against Trump, but argued that the issue is “a much more egregious” than in 2012.

“I almost hesitate to compare them because Trump University shows Donald Trump to be a fraud,” she said.

“It’s not that he was a cold and calculating businessman out to make a profit, he scammed regular people out of their life savings to make millions of dollars.”

Whether the barbs will do any damage to Trump remains to be seen.

The real estate tycoon has proven adept at changing the media narrative at the drop of a hat, and has plenty of ammunition for attacks against Clinton, including her controversial use of a private email server at the State Department.

Ryan Williams, a former Romney campaign spokesman, believes it will be harder for Democrats to land punches against Trump both because of his ability to dominate the media and because of Clinton’s flaws as a messenger.

President Obama never faced the trustworthiness and favorability problems Hillary Clinton has now, which Williams said made it easier for him to caricature Romney.

“Trump has challenges but Hillary Clinton is as popular as a skunk at a garden party. She’s no sympathetic character, either,” he said.

“For 30 years it’s been the Bill and Hillary show to see how much power and money they could amass and how they could advance themselves. She’s not the messenger that Obama was in attacking us because she’s so disliked and compromised.”