The White House said today that release of a 14-year-old tape of Barack Obama discussing "redistribution" reflects "desperation" from supporters of Mitt Romney.

"All of us who follow politics and policy ... have seen circumstances like this where a campaign is having a very bad day or a very bad week," said White House spokesman Jay Carney. "And in circumstances like that, there are efforts made -- sometimes desperate efforts made -- to change the subject."

The 1998 tape of Ohio surfaced a day after a 2012 tape of Romney became public in which he could be heard saying Obama enters this election with 47% of the vote, courtesy of Americans who are on government assistance or who pay no taxes.

On the Obama tape, promoted by The Drudge Report and other websites, the then-Illinois legislator is heard at a conference in 1998 saying, "I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody's got a shot."

Asked about the tape today, Carney said, "The charge based on this 14-year-old video sounds very familiar to one that was tried and failed in 2008.

"You know," he said, "14 years old, then-Senator Obama was making an argument for a more efficient, more effective government, specifically citing city government agencies that he did not think were working effectively."

Romney supporters said the new tape reflects Obama's real philosophy.

"Now we have a glimpse of his long-held belief in redistribution through government," said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.