Mitt Romney's Bain pain is real and the Obama campaign knows it. The latest: a thirty-second television ad comparing Romney's record of outsourcing at Bain with President Obama's support for insourcing here at home.



What a president believes matters. Mitt Romney’s companies were pioneers in outsourcing US jobs to low-wage countries. He supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. President Obama believes in insourcing. He fought to save the US auto industry. And favors tax cuts for companies that bring jobs home. Outsourcing versus insourcing. I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.

The ad is obviously a hit on Romney, but it's not purely negative and it's not purely personal. By connecting Romney's Bain experience with the policies he is proposing as a presidential candidate and contrasting those policies with President Obama's, the ad goes beyond a purely negative personal attack, instead framing the choice between Obama and Romney. According to the campaign, it will air in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia