11-Jan-2012 - Rivals Attack Romney on His Bain Record

Visted 12 times

By NEIL KING JR. And DANNY YADRON MANCHESTER, N.H.—On the eve of the nation's first presidential primary, Mitt Romney's Republican rivals sought to weaken a central plank of his campaign—that his "real world" experience prepared him to fix the economy—by portraying the former governor as a corporate marauder who profited off the misery of others. Sparking an extraordinary debate within the Republican Party over what constitutes acceptable capitalist behavior, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman laid into Mr. Romney on Monday for his years at Bain Capital, the private-equity firm he ran until the mid-1990s. Both Messrs. Perry and Gingrich accused Mr. Romney of having "looted" companies and firing workers for his own gain. "If somebody comes in, takes all the money out of your company and then leaves you bankrupt while they go off with millions, that's not traditional capitalism," Mr. Gingrich said on NBC's "Today" show. Mr. Perry argued at an event in South Carolina that Mr. Romney had pushed the quest for profits too far. "There is nothing wrong with being successful and nfl headset making money," he said. "But getting rich off failure and sticking someone else with the bill is indefensible." Mr. Romney expressed astonishment that his GOP rivals were turning the primary into what he called a "trial" of free enterprise by attacking his record at Bain, a move he said he expected to come from President Barack Obama and the Democrats. A statement earlier from his campaign was more direct. "It's sad to see Speaker Gingrich lashing out with attacks on free enterprise because his own campaign is floundering," it read. The Wall Street Journal examined 77 companies Bain invested in during Mr. Romney's tenure, and found that 22% either filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after the initial investment. The Journal also found that Bain under Mr. Romney produced exceptional profits for its investors of roughly 50% to 80% annually, but that most of those gains were produced by a relatively small number of deals, and some of these winning companies later ended up filing for bankruptcy protection. Bain called the analysis's methodology flawed. It said that its "success rate in growing and turning around businesses in both strong and weak economic periods is very high." Polls showed Mr. Romney's New Hampshire lead is narrowing, though he continued to hold a wide advantage over his rivals. One found Mr. Romney slipping to 33%, just above his nearly 32% share from the 2008 contest, in which he placed second to Sen. John McCain. His closest rival in most polls, Ron Paul, has avoided jabbing at Mr. Romney's Bain record, as has Rick Santorum, who still hopes to capitalize on his surprise second-place finish in last week's Iowa caucuses. Mr. Paul's strength in the polls makes it harder for Mr. Santorum, Mr. Gingrich or others to establish themselves as the leading alternative to Mr. Romney among social conservatives. Mr. Huntsman also appears to be seeing a late rise, jumping to third in some polls. But he has little support in South Carolina, which holds its primary in 10 days, or in Florida, the next state in line to vote. An outside Super PAC supporting Mr. Gingrich announced plans Monday to spend nearly 3.5 million in South Carolina, much of it on ads focusing on companies that Mr. Romney and his Bain partners took over, and eventually shuttered, in the Palmetto State. The group also plans to release a 28-minute film that a onetime Romney adviser made, featuring interviews with more than a dozen people who lost their jobs at companies that Bain took over. The film, which seeks to depict Mr. Romney as an elitist "money man," flashes frequently to a photograph of him having his shoes shined on an airport tarmac, a large jet in the background. It is not clear when the photo was cheap nba jerseys taken. In his speech Monday, Mr. Perry highlighted two Bain buyouts in South Carolina. He accused the former governor of laying off hundreds of workers from both companies, Holson Burnes, a maker of picture frames and scrap books, and GS Industries, a steel mill, while Bain garnered a combined 85 million in management fees. The attacks prompted angry responses from some Republican interest groups and business leaders. Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, an organization of free-market conservatives, called Mr. Gingrich's criticisms "disgusting'' and praised Mr. Romney for creating jobs and wealth through investments in Staples, Domino's Pizza and other companies. "Attacking Gov. Romney for participating in free-market capitalism is just beyond the pale for any purported 'Reagan conservative,''' Mr. Chocola said of Mr. Gingrich. Separately, the Romney campaign highlighted supportive comments from Jack Welch, the former General Electric chief executive, who credited Mr. Romney with carrying Bain through a difficult period and then stepping in to lead the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics after a scandal. The Democratic National Committee released a Web video Monday accusing Mr. Romney of intentionally misstating the number of jobs he said Bain created during his tenure there. Mr. Romney has taken credit for creating a net total of 100,000 jobs through his Bain investments. Several remarks Mr. Romney has made in the past two days have helped fuel the charge that he is out of touch with working Americans. At an event Sunday, he said he had often worried about going unemployed himself. "A couple of times I wondered if I was going to get a pink slip," he said. Mr. Perry responded that Mr. Romney's real worry was whether he would "run out" of pink slips. At a Monday address to the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Romney told how he joined Bain "at the bottom level and was able over the years to work my way up." But in talking about health care, and his desire to shop around and hold providers accountable for their services, he uttered another line that was immediately seized on by GOP rivals: "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," he said. He was referring to providers who do substandard work. Rival campaigns expressed glee over the remark, making it clear in emails and private remarks to reporters that they planned to use the line in coming ads. John Weaver, Mr. Huntsman's top campaign strategist, said the line "reminded voters why he's one of the weakest front-runners in presidential history." Talking to reporters later, Mr. Romney said the remark was being taken out of context, but sought to move on. "I've got to be an adult about it," he said. A few hours later, Gallup released a national poll showing that six in 10 registered Republicans believe Mr. Romney will be the party's nominee, up from 39% last month. His closest competitor in the polls of expectations was Mr. Santorum, at 11%. In all, an increasingly confident Mr. Romney appeared unfazed by suggestions that he needed to be more careful about relating to voters. "If you think that I should spend my entire campaign carefully choosing how everything I say relates NFL jerseys cheap to people, as opposed to saying my own experience and telling my own experience, that would make me a very different person than I am," he told reporters. "I'm going to tell people my experiences in life, and I realize they're not the same as everybody else I speak with, but I'm going to tell you about myself." Write to Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com and Danny Yadron at danny.yadron@wsj.com

Comments (0)Post Comment View Whole Blog