Ad blasts Romney housing comment

WASHINGTON - The Democratic National Committee will begin airing a 30-second TV ad in Arizona today, blasting GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney for saying the housing industry should not try to stop foreclosures but should let the process "run its course and hit the bottom."

The DNC chose Arizona to run the ad because the state has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. The ad, titled "Underwater," will run for about a week. It will air on CNN, MSNBC and five Valley stations: Channel 3 (KTVK), Channel 5 (KPHO), Channel 10 (KSAZ), Channel 12 (KPNX) and Channel 15 (KNXV).

The commercials debut a day after President Barack Obama went to Las Vegas to unveil his latest plan to reduce foreclosures. More than 1 million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure in 2010, according to RealtyTrac.

Romney's campaign issued a news release Monday, charging that Obama has broken his campaign promise to solve the housing crisis.

"This past summer, President Obama himself confirmed that his housing policies had failed and that he was going 'back to the drawing board,' " the release said.

Democrats are seizing on controversial comments Romney made in Nevada last week, when he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Don't try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up."

by Erin Kelly Republic Washington Bureau Oct. 25, 2011 12:00 AM



Ad blasts Romney housing comment