At an event in New Hampshire today, Vice President Joe Biden launched the latest salvo in the Obama campaign’s continuing attacks on Mitt Romney for his work at the private equity firm Bain Capital. He defended the validity of discussing Mr. Romney’s career and characterized Bain as a parasitic corporation.
“Governor Romney has a trump card, he says. He says he is better qualified to be Commander-in-Chief because of his business experience. … So look, he raised it. So let’s take a look at his business experience,” Mr. Biden said. “You hear all these stories about his partners buying companies … where they load up with a tremendous amount of debt. The companies go under, everybody loses their job, the community is devastated, but they make money. They make money even when a company goes bankrupt, when workers lose their jobs.”
The Romney campaign has retaliated against past criticism of Mr. Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital (BCSF) by characterizing it as an attack on private equity and highlighting comments made by Democrats who have expressed disagreement with the focus on Bain. Mr. Biden echoed the message the Obama campaign isn’t attacking private equity as a whole and rejected the notion Brain shouldn’t be an issue in the election.
“They say it’s the job of these private equity companies to create wealth for its investors. That when you provide what private equity firms are supposed to do, it’s make wealth for the investors. Exactly. Exactly. That is their job. It is legitimate,” Mr. Biden said. “Making money for your investors, which Romney did very well, is not the president’s job. The president has a different job. … I’m not criticizing private equity firms. But I’m suggesting the people who run them, the same quality and objective of running a private equity firm is not what qualifies you to be president.”
Mr. Biden also emphasized “progress” made by the economy in his New Hampshire speech. The Romney campaign responded to his New Hampshire speech by saying they do not reflect the current reality in the country.
“Vice President Biden today claimed the Obama Administration’s economic progress ‘cannot be denied.’ He must not be talking to the millions of Americans who are suffering from declining incomes, fewer jobs, and skyrocketing household costs in the Obama economy,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.
