Romney Ad Attacking Obama Cancer Ad to Air in Iowa

A Romney campaign ad attacking an ad from the super PAC supporting President Barack Obama will be expanded to air in the crucial battleground state of Iowa, the campaign told The Hill Tuesday.

The Romney ad, released last Friday, challenges Obama's integrity over the Priorities USA Action spot that linked Mitt Romney to the death of a woman from cancer. The Romney ad is being broadcast in Iowa to coincide with Obama’s three-day visit there.

"What does it say about a president’s character when his campaign tries to use the tragedy of a woman’s death for political gain?" states the narrator in Romney’s spot. “What does it say about a president’s character when he had his campaign raise money for the ad, then stood by as his top aides were caught lying about it?”

The Priorities USA ad showed a worker, Joe Soptic, who was laid off from a company owned by Bain Capital and lost his healthcare coverage. He then watched his wife die of cancer. Bain is the private equity firm co-founded by Romney.

However, reports indicate that Soptic’s wife died six years after Bain bought her husband’s company and that she had health coverage through her own employer. In addition, Romney wasn’t working at Bain when Soptic lost his job.

Romney’s ad includes clips from media reports and commenters criticizing the Priorities USA ad. “Doesn’t America deserve better than a president who will say or do anything to stay in power?” the Romney ad concludes.