Ex-Bain workers target Mitt before debate

The Obama campaign will deploy a group of surrogates to go after Mitt Romney's Bain Capital record in the days surrounding the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, a campaign official said Saturday.

Among those surrogates will be multiple ex-employees of companies owned by Bain. Randy Johnson, the former Ampad worker who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, will campaign in Wisconsin on Oct. 2 and 3. Former Dade Behring employee Cindy Hewitt will appear in Florida on Oct. 3 and 4. And David Foster, who was a union negotiator for workers at the Bain-owned company GST Steel, will visit Ohio on Oct. 3 and 4 and join some of Johnson's events in Wisconsin.

Said the Obama official: "It’s these men and women, who lost their jobs because of Bain, who can best express what Mitt Romney is referring to when he talks about his business experience, and, just a few days out from the first presidential debate, why he must not be president."

The president's campaign has revived Romney's business background as a target in the run-up to the leadoff general election debate, putting up a new website about Romney and Bain and releasing a web video on the same subject.

Whether Obama himself carries that line of attack in the debate remains to be seen, but given that Wednesday's face-off is focused on domestic policy, it would be surprising if Bain didn't end up getting significant play.