Pro-Obama ‘super PAC’ ad to take on Romney during Olympic Games

WASHINGTON -- Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama “super PAC,” is bringing its anti-Romney message to the Olympics broadcast, the group announced Wednesday.

The latest salvo from the liberal group, run by former Obama White House aides, capitalizes on the global nature of the competition to ding Republican Mitt Romney for some of his more politically perilous international business ties.

The spot depicts a faux Olympics opening ceremony, with Romney (in video from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, which Romney ran) seemingly waving at a number of athlete delegations from countries to which Romney has had ties.

“There’s Mitt Romney, who ran the Salt Lake City Games, waving to China -- home to a billion people. Thousands owe their jobs to Mitt Romney’s companies,” says an announcer. “India, which also gained jobs thanks to Romney, an outsourcing pioneer. And Burma, where Romney had the uniforms made for the 2002 games.”

The ad also refers to Romney’s now-closed Swiss bank account and investments in private equity funds located in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

“Ya gotta say this about Mitt Romney,” the announcer says at the ad’s close. “He sure knows how to go for the gold ... for himself.”

The ad will run during the Games in four swing states: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is part of Priorities’ $20-million television and online campaign -- launched in May -- which has been relentlessly pummeling the GOP presidential contender for his tenure at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he launched in 1984. An official for the group did not specify how much of that $20 million is dedicated to this particular ad.

Viewers in battleground states planning to watch this year’s Summer Olympics, which begin Friday in London, should brace themselves for a steady barrage of political ads interspersed with the sports.

The Obama campaign has reserved $5.5 million in airtime, according to the New York Times. And Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, will spend a reported $7.2 million on advertising during the Games in 11 states, Politico reported this month.

melanie.mason@latimes.com