Mitt Romney is using the first TV ad of his general election campaign against President Obama to tell swing-state voters in Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia what a Romney presidency would be like on Day One. The commercial, which started airing Friday, says the likely Republican presidential nominee would approve the Keystone pipeline on his first day in office (see the video below), introduce tax cuts to "reward job creators, not punish them," and issue an order "to begin replacing ObamaCare with commonsense health care reform." Romney had promised a "positive ad" to contrast with the Obama campaign's "character assassination ad" attacking his record at Bain Capital. Did Romney score points with this general election debut?
Romney is off to a terrific start: "Campaigns are not won on attack ads alone," says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. Romney knows that, so he has spelled out his vision and his priorities — "jobs, the economy, energy, and more jobs" — in a spot that is "upbeat, optimistic, and colorful." Still, Romney doesn't cut Obama any breaks, hitting him on Keystone, taxes and spending, and ObamaCare. This is just the kind of "smart, well-produced ad" every challenger should run.
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