For a few weeks in 1994, Mitt Romney appeared poised to do the
unthinkable. In his first run for public office, Romney threatened
to deny Ted Kennedy a sixth full Senate term. A statewide poll
showed Romney leading Kennedy by eight points. Republican
incumbents were heavily favored to hold on to the Massachusetts
governorship, lieutenant governorship, the state treasurer’s
office, and a pair of congressional seats.
Kennedy fought back like a cornered animal. His campaign aired
no fewer than six ads
attacking Romney’s business record at Bain Capital, with
special emphasis on the paper company Ampad and a factory in
Marion, Indiana. The ad claimed that Bain laid off 350 of the paper
factory’s workers and told them they could reapply for their old
jobs at a 25 percent pay cut — and that Mitt Romney was to
blame.
“He has cut our wages to put money in his pocket,” complained a
worker featured in one of the Kennedy ads. Workers from Indiana
were brought into Massachusetts to hand out anti-Romney leaflets.
The campaign took its toll. Romney’s lead in the polls evaporated.
“I was kind of attracted to Romney,” a woman told the
Boston Globe less than a month before the election. “But
this really make me rethink things. I’m undecided now.”
Romney wound up losing that Senate election by 17 points,
running 30 points behind GOP Gov. Bill Weld in what was a fairly
good year for Republicans even in Massachusetts. Kennedy didn’t
even end up running ad charging Romney-led Bain with accepting a
taxpayer bailout. He didn’t have to — he was already ahead in the
polls again.
There were some factual problems with the Ampad story. Romney
wasn’t in charge of Bain when most of the major decisions affecting
the Indiana plant were made. Ironically, he was on leave running
against Kennedy. Romney offered to meet with the workers and see
what he could do to help find a solution, “But I’m in no position
to negotiate with the union negotiators or the company
negotiators.”
None of these details mattered. Such nuances can get lost when a
negative ad conforms to concerns voters already have about a
candidate. Willie Horton worked because many Americans already
feared Michael Dukakis was a liberal drip who would be soft on
crime. There has always been great attention paid to Romney’s
wealth and criticism of his ability to connect with working-class
people. He has struggled to win over voters in lower income
brackets even in Republican primaries.
It was only natural that Barack Obama’s campaign team would dust
off the old Kennedy attacks and, being environmentally sound
liberals, see if they could be recycled. Newt Gingrich and, to a
much lesser extent, Rick Santorum also incorporated some Bain
material in their hits against Romney. Gingrich put together a
whole movie about the “King of Bain” titled “When Mitt Romney
Came to Town.” The Atlantic’s Elspeth Reeve
concluded, “Newt Gingrich merely re-aired the 1994 argument
about Romney’s record, but with better production values.”
Obama and his super PAC are focusing on a different company that
went bankrupt under Bain management, GST Steel, though surely they
have more in their arsenal. Their two-minute TV ad, augmented by a
six-minute web ad, will air in five key swing states: Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa, and Colorado. Romney is labeled an
“economic vampire.”
Like the Ampad story, there are some holes in this story. Romney
was no longer with Bain when GST Steel was shuttered in 2001. Obama
bundler Jonathan Levine, who has raised $100,000 for the president,
was still with Bain at the time. There is nevertheless ample
precedent for such facts getting lost in the campaign
maelstrom.
Yet so far, even some Democrats have seemed uncomfortable with
this line of attack. Before he was taken to the woodshed, Obama
surrogate Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, told Meet the
Press that this criticism was “nauseating.” Booker exclaimed,
“Stop attacking private equities!” Harold Ford, a former head of
the Democratic Leadership Council who moved left when contemplating
a campaign in New York, concurred: “Overall, I agree with the
substance of [Booker’s] comments on Meet the Press.”
Ed Rendell, a former chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, called Obama’s Bain ads “very disappointing.” Rendell
continued: “I think Bain is fair game, because Romney has made it
fair game. But I think how you examine it, the tone, what you say,
is important as well.” Even Steve Rattner, the former Obama car
czar who has assailed Romney’s claim to have a record creating
jobs, has called the hits on Bain “unfair.”
Of course, Rattner has two good reasons to be sensitive on this
score. First, as car czar he has presided over some layoffs
himself, which the Romney camp has been quick to point out in their
counterattacks. Secondly, Rattner is a —
somewhat controverisal — former private equity executive
himself.
Maybe Obama will yet emulate Kennedy’s success in tying Bain’s
record around Romney’s neck. But there seems to be a greater
realization today in 1994 that private equity is complicated, with
innovative wins and sometimes heartbreaking losses, that can’t be
so easily or accurately
lemon-picked. And Ted Kennedy didn’t have to run for reelection
on Obama’s jobs record.
