As election nears, Romney pushes business experience in new ad and stump speech

Since the beginning of the election season, there’s been one very distinguishable difference between GOP White House contender Mitt Romney and Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama: business experience. And in the final days of his campaign, Romney is hammering home his message that it is his experience in business and as a job creator that voters should consider when going to the polls next Tuesday.

In a well-timed, one-two punch, the Romney campaign has simultaneously released an ad about Obama’s lack of business experience, and hit trail this morning, issuing a campaign speech with the same message. “We need a president who understands business, and I do,” Romney said to a crowd in Roanoke, Virginia this morning.

His personal experience as a business leader and job creator was also the focus of a brand new ad titled “Secretary of Business” which he released this morning in response to a recent MSNBC interview in which the president suggested he would create a Secretary of Business position. In the ad, the Romney campaign says, “Barack Obama says he may appoint a Secretary of Business. His solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat. Why not have a president who actually understands business?”

The remainder of the ad mentions the millions of Americans out of work and record number on food stamps during Obama’s first term in office.

This juxtaposition of a community-organizing, inexperienced leader appointing others to create jobs compared with Romney’s hands-on experience in the private sector seems to underscore the challenger’s strength as he faces a tight race in the coming days. The Real Clear Politics average has the race at a 47.4 percent dead heat.

In an economy where 23 million are unemployed, unemployment remains close to 8 percent and median household income is down 8.2 percent under President Obama, it is clear that the Romney camp is playing to his strength as a final appeal to undecided voters.