Romney’s Record at Bain Capital Is Fair Game, Obama Says
President Obama defended his campaign attacks on Mitt Romney’s record in private equity, arguing that since Mr. Romney is using his business experience as his top argument for becoming president, his record deserves scrutiny.
Mr. Obama’s statement, made at a press conference Monday in Chicago at the end of the 2012 NATO summit, came a day after Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker - usually an Obama ally - called the attacks on Romney and his former firm, Bain Capital, “nauseating.”
The Romney campaign and the Republican Party have been having a field day trying to exploit the Democratic schism with videos, Twitter ads, and a petition to “stand with Cory Booker” and “stand up for job creators.”
“What I would say is, Mr. Romney is responsible for the proposals he’s putting forward for how he says he’s going to fix the economy,” Obama said. “And if the main basis for him suggesting he can do a better job is his track record as the head of a private-equity firm, then both the upsides and the downsides are worth examining.”