Restore Our Future is out with the ad for its more than $4 million buy. (The buy is up to $4.3 million in nine states.)
Notably, the ad that's being run is, "Saved," the same positive Mitt Romney ad that the Romney CAMPAIGN ran in 2007 and Restore Our Future ran during this past primary season. That raised questions in February of just how close to the line campaigns and the Super PACs that support them come.
Here's what we wrote, in part, Feb. 23 about Restore recycling this ad:
"The pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future is going up with an ad in Michigan and Arizona, starting tonight, that focuses on the story of Mitt Romney helping to lead the search for his business partner's daughter who went missing in New York City in the 1990s. The story is true, but the ad is recycled. In fact, the ad run by a SUPER PAC, called 'Saved,' is word-for-word the same ad that the Romney CAMPAIGN ran in 2007, called 'The Search.'"
The Super PAC is run by people close to Romney, who were key 2007-2008 campaign staffers. Running this ad is an acknowledgment of the image problems Romney has. He has been upside down in his likability ratings (33 fav/36 unfav) in polls for months, though, they have improved slightly since the GOP primary ended.
Here's Restore's press release on this ad buy:
Restore Our Future Launches $4.3 Million Ad Campaign
Group targets Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Restore Our Future today launched a $4.3 million TV ad campaign that targets nine states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. The group is currently running the ad "Saved," which touts Gov. Romney's tremendous efforts to find his former business partner's 14-year-old daughter after she went missing in New York City.
"Barack Obama had his chance to lead and failed. Now, it is time to exchange empty rhetoric with a proven record," said Charlie Spies, Treasurer of Restore Our Future. "The choice this November is clear: Mitt Romney, an experienced leader and job creator who fixed an economy without raising taxes, or Barack Obama, a politician whose way forward hinges on bolstering the government's power - and budget - at the expense of private-sector jobs."
The $4.3 million TV buy begins on May 3 and will run through May 16. To view the video, please click here.
Ad Buy by State:
· Colorado: $293,000
· Florida: $857,000
· Iowa: $490,000
· Michigan: $465,000
· Nevada: $278,000
· New Hampshire: $231,000
· North Carolina: $773,000
· Ohio: $581,000