Who

President Barack Obama's task of getting re-elected is not the easiest one in the world. He faces a disappointed liberal base, a stuttering economic recovery, stubborn joblessness, a failure to reform Wall Street and defending a drones and targeted killing programme that makes Dick Cheney look like Mahatma Gandhi. It helps the Democrat cause considerably, therefore, when Mitt Romney – far from attacking Obama – decides to self-destruct instead.

So it was with the now-notorious "47%" secret videotape that emerged from inside a private Romney fundraiser. After all, why should the Obama team write their own attack ads when the Romney team give them the best lines free of charge?

What

Called "My Job", this 30-second TV spot is the third Obama ad to feature the secret video in which Romney lambasted almost half of all Americans as loafing, government-dependent "victims" to an audience of rich contributors.

When

It came out Thursday morning, 27 September.

Where

It will be airing in New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and Colorado. Which is a typical list of the battleground states.

How

You know you have made a big mistake when your opponent does not have to attack your words, or splice them out of context, or extract a single sentence as damning while ignoring everything else. Instead, your opponent just repeats your words right back at you. So it is with this ad. Romney's comments about how 47% of Americans are freeloaders (ignoring the fact many are the working poor, retirees, injured veterans, students and, indeed, Republicans) were so toxic that the Obama campaign has cut an ad in which it simply plays the speech.

This can be likened to the Saturday Night Live skits of Sarah Palin where, instead of a script, Tina Fey just repeated Palin's own quotes. (That was enough to lampoon her as unfit to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.) This advert begins with Romney speaking:

"There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what … who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."

As his stentorian voice drones on, the ad flashes up pictures of ordinary-looking Americans at home, at work or wearing their veterans' gear. They are presented in the sort of washed-out palate beloved of music video directors for tragic love songs.

But they also look seriously annoyed. "Do you mean me?" they seem to be saying. But Romney goes on:

"So my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Further portraits of incredulous-looking working-class Americans appear. Then, the ad fades to black. Not a single spoken word in the ad comes from anywhere but Romney's own mouth. It is astonishing, really.

After score upon score of different political ads this electoral season, the one that really packs the most devastating punch is one that just shows Romney talking honestly and openly about his true beliefs among some of his biggest fans. And that should tell you everything you need to know about the dire state of his campaign.