Obama campaign recalls Romney’s ‘corporations are people’ comment

President Barack Obama returns to the fairgrounds in the battleground state of Iowa on Thursday—and his campaign wants you to remember it as the place where Mitt Romney made his famous declaration that "corporations are people, my friend."

The Obama campaign invited supporters to the president's campaign rally with a 34-second video that stars Romney (Obama never appears) in his Aug. 11, 2011, exchange with hecklers at the fair.

"We can raise taxes on people," Romney says, only to be cut off with a cry of "corporations."

"Corporations are people, my friend," the former Massachusetts governor replies. "No they're not," someone shouts. "Of course they are," Romney shoots back. "Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?"

Obama was due to speak at the fairgrounds at 6:55 p.m. local time.

"See you there," his campaign video says.

"Instead of spending the last three years making good on his campaign promises, President Obama has presided over an economy where millions of middle-class families are still struggling—and all he has to offer now are tired political attacks," countered Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg, who dismissed what she called Obama's "flailing attacks."

"Mitt Romney is offering voters a positive vision for our country, and he will take action on day one of his presidency to get our economy moving again," she said in an email message to Yahoo News.

Democrats have cited Romney's comments at the fairgrounds as evidence that he is out of touch with struggling voters—and Team Obama is sure to use his comments again and again between now and November.

Republicans won't be using these remarks by Romney in any ads. But his supporters say that the pugnacious and unscripted exchange—he took on his hecklers and even punctuated his replies with some off-the-cuff humor, joking that they probably wouldn't vote for him—also showed that the frequently stiff Republican candidate has plenty of fight in him.

More popular Yahoo! News stories:

• Polls: Obama leads Romney in Florida, Ohio and Virginia

• Romney's second TV ad focuses on deficit and China trade

• Obama aides gave Hollywood team rare CIA, Pentagon access on bin Laden raid info

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or add us on Tumblr. Handy with a camera? Join our Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.