Priorities USA Action, a Democratic PAC founded to counter GOP groups in 2012, has released their first attack ad of the 2012 election cycle. This one is going after Mitt Romney for his support of Paul Ryan‘s controversial proposal to restructure Medicare, saying he’s “on the same page” as the Wisconsin Republican. And of course it’s raising eyebrows on both sides of the aisle.
The ad was released Friday to coincide with Romney’s scheduled trip to South Carolina, but the Romney camp hasn’t wasted any time firing back. Andrea Saul, a spokeswomen for Romney’s campaign, told Politico on Friday that the ad is a diversion. “President Obama and his team are desperate to change the subject to anything other than jobs and the millions of Americans out of work,” they said. “With 9.6 percent unemployment in South Carolina, voters are looking for a jobs plan, not a smear campaign.”
And Romney isn’t the only one in the hot seat. The ad also jabs at former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for his contradictory comments on last Sunday’s Meet the Press about the plan, and winds that debacle around to South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley‘s rebuke of Gingrich’s comments.
“We’ll talk about more candidates than just Mitt Romney, but what’s more important than Mitt Romney here is the issue of Medicare,” said Priorities USA Action co-founder Bill Burton on MSNBC Friday morning. “What we saw over the course of this week is that the plan to essentially end Medicare as we know it is a litmus test for Republicans in the primary. Either you’re for it or you’re against it.”
