Mitt Romney is airing an ad that blames President Obama for sending auto companies into bankruptcy and erroneously implies that the president's actions prompted a car manufacturer to send jobs overseas.
Thousands of jobs in the Upper Midwest were tied to the auto bailout -- $80 billion in federal loans to General Motors and Chrysler -- that many credit for saving the industry. For months, Obama has hammered Romney for his opposition to the bailout.
A new ad being aired by Romney says Obama caused Jeep's parent company, Chrysler, to be sold to an Italian company that plans to move Jeep production overseas. While it is true that Chrysler may produce Jeeps in China under its Fiat owners, that represents an expansion for Chinese buyers; no American jobs are to be lost.
"Who will do more to support the auto industry? Not Barack Obama," the ad says. "Mitt Romney has a plan to help the auto industry."
Chrysler weighed in to reassure Ohioans that no manufacturing is being moved out of state, and the Obama campaign denounced the ad throughout the day Monday.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
BLACK PASTORS BLAST FRANKLIN GRAHAM
For the second time during the presidential campaign, a group of black ministers in North Carolina has criticized Franklin Graham for challenging the spiritual beliefs of President Obama, accusing the evangelist Monday of promoting a narrow form of Christianity that supports a politically conservative point of view.
Meeting in Charlotte, the group read an open letter to Graham that comes in response to a series of full-page ads that bear a photograph of his father, Billy Graham, and ask voters to elect candidates who support "biblical principles."
