WASHINGTON (AP) — TITLE: "12 Million Jobs"
LENGTH: 30 seconds.
AIRING: Mitt Romney's campaign did not disclose where this ad is running.
KEY IMAGES: The ad shows GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney getting behind the wheel of an SUV, then cuts to Romney standing and speaking into the camera. As he narrates, clips show workers — a man tinkering with computer wires, a factory worker using a tool as sparks shoot up — and Romney talking to people.
Text on the screen says: "Mitt Romney in his own words" and he says: "Let me tell you how I will create 12 million jobs when President Obama couldn't. First, my energy independence policy means more than 3 million new jobs, many of them in manufacturing." He continues: "My tax reform plan to lower rates for the middle class and for small business creates 7 million more. And expanding trade, cracking down on China, and improving job training takes us to over 12 million new jobs."
ANALYSIS: Coming off a strong debate performance, Romney is focusing on the economy in an ad in which he discusses his pledge to create 12 million jobs during his four years in office, if he is elected. While he promises at the outset of this spot to "tell you how," the ad is decidedly short on details.
Under his energy plan, states would be empowered to control onshore energy development, offshore areas would be open for development and the government would help encourage energy development by the private sector. But the job-creation claim goes unsupported.
Details are missing, too, when the ad says his tax plan will create jobs by lowering rates. Ditto on exactly how trade expansion and cracking down on China translate into specific numbers of jobs.
Romney's overall job-creation pledge would represent a significant bump from the current rate of job growth, but it falls short of what he has said would be characteristic of a "normal recovery." Romney has said that in that scenario, about 500,000 jobs would need to be created per month — double the rate he calls for in the ad. Several independent economists, including Moody's Analytics, also have projected that the economy will gain 12 million new jobs by 2016 — regardless of who is elected on Nov. 6.
Beyond its numbers and plans, Romney's ad does suggest where his focus will be in the campaigns' final stretch. With an emphasis on the economy and job creation, Romney is contrasting his own approach with Obama's.
EDITOR'S NOTE _ An occasional look at the claims in political advertising
