World

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Obama, Romney battle for Virginia

Spar over Republican's role at Bain Capital

By: Steven R. Hurst

Posted: 07/14/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Susan Walsh / The Associated Press U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a high school in Virginia on Friday. (CP)

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama takes his message of tax fairness to Virginia on Friday, looking to shore up support for his re-election in a state he won four years ago to end decades of domination by Republican presidential candidates.

Challenger Mitt Romney, who will need to return Virginia to the Republican column in order to win, added $4 million to his campaign war chest Thursday night at two fundraising events in Wyoming with former vice-president Dick Cheney at his side.

The race toward the November election has grown increasingly bitter, with each man accusing the other of dishonesty over Romney's record with Bain Capital, the investment company the former Massachusetts governor co-founded in 1984 that became the source of his fortune of at least $250 million.

Documents filed by the company conflict with Romney's statements about when he gave up control of the firm. The filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission place Romney in charge from 1999 to 2001, a period in which Bain moved jobs abroad and ran companies that fell into bankruptcy.

Romney and his aides say he left Bain in 1999 to run the Salt Lake City Olympics, and a Bain statement said Romney "remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999."

At least three times since then, Bain listed Romney as the company's "controlling person," as well as its "sole shareholder, sole director, chief executive officer and president." And one of those documents -- as late as February 2001 -- lists Romney's "principal occupation" as Bain's managing director.

The Obama campaign called the company documents detailing Romney's role post-1999 a "big Bain lie." Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said the Republican may even have engaged in illegal activity.

With that dispute seething, Obama travels to southeast and southwest Virginia, courting young and African-American voters. On Saturday, he will campaign in Richmond, a once staunchly Republican region he won in 2008.

Both campaigns acknowledge Virginia's new role as a fiercely contested state after years of being virtually overlooked in presidential politics. Obama won the state by a 53-46 margin over his 2008 rival, John McCain.

Obama's two-day visit to Virginia underscores his stepped-up attention to the short list of key states that will determine the outcome of the election.

Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, figures prominently in both the Obama and Romney strategies. But Obama has more options for an election day victory without Virginia than Romney. The state has seen the third heaviest television-ad spending by the candidates and their allied groups, behind only Ohio and Florida.

The state is represented by two moderate Democratic senators. But since Obama won four years ago, Republicans have done well in state offices and a majority of the state's congressional seats are held by Republicans.

Obama is helped by the state's more moderate and Democratic Washington suburbs, by an unemployment rate well below the national average and by a minority population that voted heavily in his favour last time. Nearly 20 per cent of the state's population is African-American, and its Hispanic presence has grown sharply in the past decade.

While touring the state, Obama will reiterate his call for extending Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class, insisting households earning more than $250,000 revert to paying higher rates faced under president Bill Clinton.

Despite its relatively low unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent, the state relies heavily on military contracts that could suffer significantly under spending cuts authorized by Congress and signed by Obama last year.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 14, 2012 A27

Factual inaccuracy? Something missing? Help improve our journalism.

Know about news? Share your story suggestions, photos and video.

Spelling error? Punctuation problem? Send us an email if you’ve found a typo.

More World

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Have Your Say

New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.