Romney Touts His Mass. Record in New Iowa Ad

Mitt Romney hasn’t talked much in his presidential campaign about his record as governor of Massachusetts, but he’s talking about it now – at least in Iowa.
 

According to the Des Moines Register, his campaign began airing a new ad across the state this morning touting his record as a job creator during his four-year stint as governor from 2003 to 2007.
 

The television ad, designed to coincide with his visit Friday to the state, also boasted that he “balanced every budget without raising taxes” while he was governor.

The ad was aimed directly at President Barack Obama’s campaign, which has been playing up Romney’s economic record in Massachusetts as one of the worst in the country, pointing out that the state was ranked 47 out of 50 in job creation during the time Romney was governor.

But in the ad, a narrator claims the Republican “had the best jobs record in a decade” in the state and reduced unemployment to 4.7 percent, “a fact,” the Register noted, “meant to contrast with the nation’s current 8.2 percent unemployment rate.”

“As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney demonstrated strong leadership—reducing the unemployment rate and balancing budgets without raising taxes,” the Romney campaign said in a news release Friday aimed at playing up the ad. “As president, Mitt Romney will do the same to help create jobs and get our country back on track.”

Iowa is considered one of the key battleground states in this year’s election and neither candidate is taking it for granted.

The Obama campaign, for example, has its own ad running called “Heard It Before,” meant to offset any talk from the Romney camp about his Massachusetts record.

The Register also reported that two Massachusetts state legislators were in Iowa earlier in the week talking about what they called Romney’s failed record in Massachusetts of higher debt, bigger government and higher taxes.