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Rothfus Responds to Outside Attacks in New Ad (Watch Video)

A new ad is out in PA-12 today, and it is the first negative one of GOP candidate Keith Rothfus’ campaign.

His campaign released two ads previously – one introducing himself to voters as a “regular guy,” and the other showing him playing miniature golf with his children – although the voiceover takes a few shots at both Critz and President Obama for being out of touch.

The new Rothfus ad takes the outsourcing attacks and turns them on Critz, with an appearance by a Chinese takeout box and a fortune cookie.

But with the sunny background and shots of the candidate with his family, the jabs could be easily missed. Not so with this ad.

The 31-second spot does one thing: answer attacks made against Rothfus by outside groups supporting his opponent Rep. Mark Critz (D-Cambria): the House Majority PAC, SEIU and DCCC.

“The attacks are wrong,” the voiceover says. “The closest Keith Rothfus has been with China is when he’s ordered takeout for his family.

“Keith has never outsourced a single job.”

The ad features a shot of Rothfus from an attack ad against him, as well as a box of Chinese takeout and a fortune cookie – for which the ad, “Fortune,” is named.

“FactCheck.org called Critz’s liberal allies’ claim ‘blatantly false,’” the ad continues, before going after the Rep. for his voting record. The ad says his votes have encouraged outsourcing and borrowing from China.

The ad maintains that Critz’s votes have helped move job overseas – something the Rothfus campaign said is done through his support for Obamacare, high taxes and overregulation. A press release accompanying the ad said the high cost of doing business makes America less competitive, forcing healthcare companies to ship jobs overseas and leading China to buy up the debt “that our kids and grandkids will have to pay off.”

The ad ends with a clip of a fortune cookie being snapped in half.

“Congressman Critz: sending our tax dollars to China, a broken economy for us.”

The press release also answers claims made about Rothfus in an ad released last week by House Majority PAC that painted Rothfus as a Wall Street lawyer and out-of-touch millionaire. Rothfus’ campaign maintains that the connections drawn by the PAC are weak – that he worked for a Wall Street bank and that he supports shipping jobs to China.

The campaign said Rothfus had a client while working for a Pittsburgh firm that “happened to be a bank that employs 7,500 people in the area.” The other attack, that Rothfus supports outsourcing, comes from his time with a firm 20 years ago – just because the firm had an unofficial relationship with another firm overseas, the press release said.

Critz campaign spokesperson Mike Mikus said that although Rothfus may have never been to China, his policies would ship tens of thousands of Pennsylvania jobs there.

“Mark Critz voted to reduce the national debt by $2 trillion, opposed every single unfair trade deal and has fought to make China play by the rules. Keith Rothfus supports job-killing, unfair trade deals and is proud to receive the backing of the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, who said that China’s currency manipulation is good for us even though it kills jobs here. That’s the difference in this race.”

The Rothfus press release ends by saying that “the attacks from Critz’s liberal allies have been everything that we have come to hate about politics…but against Congressman Critz those same claims are true.”

The ad will air districtwide on broadcast and cable.

5 Responses

  1. Glad to see comments about the US Chamber of Commerce. This organization coerced congress to pass CAFTA by threatening to withhold campaign funds. It promotes outsourcing as an intelligent thing to do. It has not raised all boats, it raised the boats in other countries while sinking ours.

  2. Mark Critz first ad bashing democrats definitely won’t win over any of his own base, let alone compel any outside financial help. Two lousy choices for women voters in this race.

  3. The US Chamber is totally in favor of outsourcing. They are also in favor of tax break for companies who do outsource jobs, like GE and Apple. And they also favor the gigantic tax loophole for corporations who park their money overseas and claim refunds from the taxpayer for it! Keith is backed by the US Chamber and has signed a pledge to support their positions. Why is he running away from the Chamber and their pro China policies?

  4. Keith the Candidate Rothfus: you are not for us! You are Beltway elites and your former employer in Virginia Beach, Pat Robertson. When are you going to discuss your private sector experience at his extermiest legal factory! http://youtu.be/Qg5uo7EYevc

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