When Mitt Romney launched an evocative web ad this morning featuring a diverse array of characters who appear to be lying dead in the desert thanks to the policies of President Obama (or something), some were skeptical.
“Are those real people or actors?” the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty tweeted. “And are they Romney supporters?”
There’s solid reasoning behind the question. Several recent evocative Republican videos have been more Hollywood than real. There’s the infamous West Virgina Senate race ad the NRSC ran last year after the creators of the spot put out a casting call for actors with “a ‘Hicky’ Blue Collar look.” Then there was the anti-union spot that ran during union fights in Wisconsin and Florida. Both ads featured the same fake teacher.
This time, team Romney assured TPM, there’s nothing fake about the cast of characters in Romney’s new ad.
“NO, not actors,” Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul told TPM. “The video was shot recently in Nevada with Americans who have suffered under the Obama recession and are supporting Mitt Romney.”
So the people are real, and the message is real — and, perhaps, something President Obama should be wary of. Romney has to make it through primary voters who are upset with the mandate-driven health care plan he signed while governor of Massachusetts and his past moderate record on many social issues. If emerges with the nomination, many observers say he has a chance to make things tough for Obama with an economics focus.
That said, Romney will still be bound by a GOP base that refuses to accept revenue increases of any kind, and abhors government spending — leaving him to argue for a job-creation agenda based mostly on government spending decreases and tax cuts alone.
Watch the Romney ad:
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.