The Candidate: Mitt Romney
The Play: Using "You Didn't Build That"
The Strategy: Republicans have turned a nine-word phrase from an hour-long speech by President Barack Obama—"If you've got a business, you didn't build that"—into an online blitz that has provoked a rare reaction from the president himself.
During a campaign stop at a fire station in Roanoke, Va., President Barack Obama spoke about government's and society's roles in supporting American entrepreneurs, and what he thinks successful business people ought to return in the form of taxes.
"If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own," Mr. Obama said in the speech. He added: "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
That was on Friday, July 13. Over the following weekend, state GOP communicators got calls from small-business owners grousing about the president's words, said Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer. By last Monday, what had been the germ of an idea in the brains of Mr. Spicer and other strategists grew into a full-court press.
In an election defined by the state of the economy, Mr. Obama's comments suggest "a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to get this economy going again," Mr. Spicer said. "They believe government is the driver of the economy, and we believe small business and entrepreneurs are the drivers of the economy."
Soon that line of GOP argument turned into a multipronged assault. Republicans produced a series of television and Web ads—long and short—using the "you didn't build that" and "if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own" lines. Those ads were criticized by fact-checking Web sites for their selective editing of the president's words, so Republicans put out a longer ad that replayed a more extended version of the president's remarks entitled, "The More Context You Get, The Worse It Sounds."
On Wednesday, state GOP organizations held 24 rallies and media events in 14 battleground states, in which small-business owners vented their ire about Mr. Obama's words.
A Web site launched Thursday morning urges business people to share tales of how they built their businesses on their own. So, too, do two new Twitter feeds, #YouDidn'tBuildThat and #BuiltbyUs.
The Results: The effort has clearly irked the Obama camp. This week the Obama campaign released an ad in which the president says, "Those ads taking my words about small business out of context? They're flat-out wrong." The campaign also has released a Web ad putting the quotes at issue into context, and released a video of the full speech.
In a separate Web ad, Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter offers a comparison of the president's and Mr. Romney's efforts to assist small businesses. More quietly, Democrats are suggesting that at least a couple of the business people who appear in the GOP's Web ads have gotten plenty of help from the government.
The GOP "has done a nice job of coming up with a talking point that appeals to the Republican base, that presents the president as contemptuous of the private sector and dismissive of small business," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan political newsletter.
"The White House knows the president's words are awkward for them," thus the push-back, Mr. Rothenberg said. But he also thinks the controversy will be overtaken soon by events such as Mr. Romney's vice-presidential choice, nominating conventions and the scheduled series of fall debates.
—Elizabeth WilliamsonA version of this article appeared July 28, 2012, on page A4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Republicans' Ad Campaign: They Built It.
The Play: Using "You Didn't Build That"
The Strategy: Republicans have turned a nine-word phrase from an hour-long speech by President Barack Obama—"If you've got a business, you didn't build that"—into an online blitz that has provoked a rare reaction from the president himself.
During a campaign stop at a fire station in Roanoke, Va., President Barack Obama spoke about government's and society's roles in supporting American entrepreneurs, and what he thinks successful business people ought to return in the form of taxes.
"If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own," Mr. Obama said in the speech. He added: "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
That was on Friday, July 13. Over the following weekend, state GOP communicators got calls from small-business owners grousing about the president's words, said Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer. By last Monday, what had been the germ of an idea in the brains of Mr. Spicer and other strategists grew into a full-court press.
In an election defined by the state of the economy, Mr. Obama's comments suggest "a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to get this economy going again," Mr. Spicer said. "They believe government is the driver of the economy, and we believe small business and entrepreneurs are the drivers of the economy."
Soon that line of GOP argument turned into a multipronged assault. Republicans produced a series of television and Web ads—long and short—using the "you didn't build that" and "if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own" lines. Those ads were criticized by fact-checking Web sites for their selective editing of the president's words, so Republicans put out a longer ad that replayed a more extended version of the president's remarks entitled, "The More Context You Get, The Worse It Sounds."
On Wednesday, state GOP organizations held 24 rallies and media events in 14 battleground states, in which small-business owners vented their ire about Mr. Obama's words.
A Web site launched Thursday morning urges business people to share tales of how they built their businesses on their own. So, too, do two new Twitter feeds, #YouDidn'tBuildThat and #BuiltbyUs.
The Results: The effort has clearly irked the Obama camp. This week the Obama campaign released an ad in which the president says, "Those ads taking my words about small business out of context? They're flat-out wrong." The campaign also has released a Web ad putting the quotes at issue into context, and released a video of the full speech.
In a separate Web ad, Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter offers a comparison of the president's and Mr. Romney's efforts to assist small businesses. More quietly, Democrats are suggesting that at least a couple of the business people who appear in the GOP's Web ads have gotten plenty of help from the government.
The GOP "has done a nice job of coming up with a talking point that appeals to the Republican base, that presents the president as contemptuous of the private sector and dismissive of small business," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan political newsletter.
"The White House knows the president's words are awkward for them," thus the push-back, Mr. Rothenberg said. But he also thinks the controversy will be overtaken soon by events such as Mr. Romney's vice-presidential choice, nominating conventions and the scheduled series of fall debates.
—Elizabeth WilliamsonA version of this article appeared July 28, 2012, on page A4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Republicans' Ad Campaign: They Built It.