1:32PM EDT October 23. 2012 - The pro-Romney super PAC is spending nearly $18 million to air two ads in 10 key states that highlight President Obama's economic record and show a more personal side to the GOP presidential nominee.
Restore Our Future released the two ads Tuesday, which will be shown in rotation through Monday in all of the swing states that will decide the presidential election. The $17.7 million ad buy is the largest for the group, headed by former Romney aides.
One ad titled "Genuinely Cares" features retired sergeant Peter Damon, an Iraq War veteran who got to know Romney as Damon was recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Damon talks about how Romney worked with a charity to build houses for severely wounded veterans.
"The Mitt Romney I know cares deeply about people who are struggling," Damon says in the ad. "Mitt Romney helped make a huge difference in my life."
The second ad, titled "Better," argues, "Obama's economy isn't working." As the GOP nominee himself has done, the ad speaks of high unemployment and falling incomes under Obama's leadership.
The ads will run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Restore Our Future's ad buy was first reported last week by The New York Times. As the details released Tuesday show, it is larger than first envisioned. The group will spend $4 million in Florida, which has 29 electoral votes up for grabs, followed by $3 million in Ohio (18 electoral votes) and $2.9 million in Virginia (13 electoral votes.)
