(Photo: SterlingBusinessCareer.com)

Mitt Romney launched a major counteroffensive against the Obama campaign's persistent attacks on his record at the private equity firm Bain Capital today. Not only did he unveil www.SterlingBusinessCareer.com to tout his private-sector achievements, but tonight's schedule at the Republican National Convention is loaded up with Bain-related events.

"Sterling business career" is certainly in reference to President Bill Clinton once describing Mr. Romney's record as such, although the website doesn't push that particular angle. Instead, it features examples of Mr. Romney doing all kinds of positive private-sector things.

Mr. Romney's press release announcing the move said the website is there, "so the American people can learn more about Governor Romney’s success in the private sector where he built, fixed and grew businesses."

Visitors to the website can hear testimonials from business leaders like Tom Stemberg, the founder of Staples Inc., who's been a surrogate for Mr. Romney to deflect Bain-based criticism in the past. These attacks, both from President Barack Obama's campaign and allied Super PACs, appear to have left at least a mark on Mr. Romney's brand, according to polling.

And, as it so happens, the recently announced convention schedule has Mr. Stemberg as a featured speaker, sandwiched between two videos certain to promote Mr. Romney's success at the company.

President Obama (Photo: Getty)

According to Mitt Romney's campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, "this week, the Obama campaign hit a new low." In an email to supporters, Mr. Rhoades said the Obama campaign hit bottom with an ad run by the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action that featured Joe Soptic, a steelworker whose wife died without health insurance after he was laid off from a company owned by Bain Capital. Multiple members of President Barack Obama's campaign staff subsequently claimed not to have any knowledge of Mr. Soptic's story in spite of the fact he previously was featured in a campaign commercial and conference call.

"This week, the Obama campaign hit a new low. Obama allies released a desperate and dishonest ad that tried to falsely link Mitt to a family tragedy. As if the disgusting and disgraceful ad wasn't enough, President Obama's top campaign advisers repeatedly lied, claiming they had no knowledge about the content of the ad," Mr. Rhoades wrote.

Mr. Rhoades went on to describe the ad as an attempt to distract voters from the president's "failed economic record."

"We're not going to whine about this ad, because politics is a rough sport. But I wanted you to know about this discredited, dishonest, despicable attack by President Obama's allies designed to divert attention from his failed economic record," he wrote. "What happened to the campaign of hope and change? After months of lies, distortions, and distractions, the Obama and liberal reelection machine needs to be held accountable for their words and actions."

Of course, no campaign email would be complete without a request for cash. Mr. Rhoades finished up his message by asking for donations to "help ensure Barack Obama, his liberal allies, and their reelection machine are defeated."

The Obama campaign admitted they were aware of Mr. Soptic's situation yesterday, though campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki stressed they had "nothing to do with the ad."

Read Mr. Rhoades' full email below:

"This week, the Obama campaign hit a new low. Obama allies released a desperate and dishonest ad that tried to falsely link Mitt to a family tragedy.

As if the disgusting and disgraceful ad wasn't enough, President Obama's top campaign advisers repeatedly lied, claiming they had no knowledge about the content of the ad.

But in May, President Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter hosted a conference call that featured the same person and distortions from the disgraceful ad. The Obama campaign also featured the same person and similar stories in one of their own discredited campaign ads back in May.

As Reid J. Epstein of Politico wrote, "When President Obama's aides said they weren't familiar with former Missouri steelworker Joe Soptic's life story, all they had to do was check their own campaign archives."

We're not going to whine about this ad, because politics is a rough sport. But I wanted you to know about this discredited, dishonest, despicable attack by President Obama's allies designed to divert attention from his failed economic record.

What happened to the campaign of hope and change? After months of lies, distortions, and distractions, the Obama and liberal reelection machine needs to be held accountable for their words and actions.

Donate $5 or more today and help ensure Barack Obama, his liberal allies, and their reelection machine are defeated.

Thanks.

Matt Rhoades
Campaign Manager"

Hermain Cain (Photo: Getty)

Pizza magnate, former GOP presidential candidate and poet Herman Cain sent avery special email to his supporters explaining how excellent it is to be rich." The missive was prompted by President Barack Obama's now infamous "you didn't build that" line, which has become a favorite target of conservatives. Mr. Cain argued the remark and the Obama campaign's attacks on Mr. Romney's tax returns and evolving story of his exit from Bain Capital as proof the president has a "disdain for the rich."

"He doesn’t like you having all that money (unless you contribute it to his campaign), and he really doesn’t like you taking credit for having earned it," wrote Mr. Cain.

As far as Mr. Cain is concerned, that argument neglects just how very awesome it is to have a lot of cash.

"What a load of crap. To listen to these people, you’d think being rich was the worst thing anyone could do," Mr. Cain wrote. "Well I’ve got news for them: Being rich is cool."

Rather than attacking the rich, Mr. Cain thinks we should study the wealthy and heir moneymaking ways.

"When someone has become rich, others should endeavor to learn as much as they can about how he or she did it, instead of resenting it and dismissing it as merely lucking out because of all the help the government provided," wrote Mr. Cain.

Mr. Cain urged President Obama to "study" the work done at Bain Capital instead of attacking it.

"The coolest thing about rich people is that, in order to get rich, you have to make your skill and your capital work for other people. Instead of ripping Bain Capital for its success, the Obama Administration and the media should study what Bain did and how it did it," he wrote. "Bain created thousands of jobs – many more on a net basis than it eliminated via strategic layoffs – because it made smart business decisions and built successful enterprises. I’ll take that any day over what Obama does, which is to flush money down the toilet in the form of stimulus that doesn’t stimulate, 'green energy' investments that lead straight to bankruptcy and tax and regulatory policies that stifle capital formation and entrepreneurial innovation."

Because of all this, Mr. Cain is cool with Mr. Romney.

"Mitt Romney got rich because he is smart and he works hard," wrote Mr. Cain. "That makes him pretty darn cool in my book"

Read Mr. Cain's entire email, which was entitled "Rich is Cool," below:

Mayor Bloomberg (Photo: Getty)

At Mayor Michael Bloomberg's press conference this morning for the groundbreaking of the Sugar Hill Affordable Housing Development The Politicker asked him for his take on the controversy over Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital and his refusal to release more than two years of his tax returns. Initially, Mayor Bloomberg, who, like Mr. Romney, came to politics from the business world, said he wanted to stay out of the controversy.

"You have a right to raise any questions and I'll leave national politics to national politics," said Mayor Bloomberg. "You know, everybody's got to deal with their own things. Government is different than the private sector. It's hard to explain some things. What is in his tax returns? I don't know. But ask him, not me. If you want to put it out you do, if you don't, you don't and you deal with what the public has to make a decision."

Mayor Bloomberg went on to add that he isn't pleased with the negative personal attacks that are increasingly defining this presidential campaign."I will say, I don't think those things are germane to what we really care about--how would either candidate balance the budget, and create jobs and keep us safe from terrorism around the world. Those are the issues and I will say I don't hear a lot of talk about that," Mayor Bloomberg said. "I hear a lot of talk about other things which aren't important. You want to talk about some of the social issues; choice and immigration, those are things people do care about. And those are also things that both candidates should address and I think they should address specifically, not just say, 'I have a secret plan to end the war.' That's just not acceptable in this day and age or diverting attention to other things that aren't germane."

Both Mr. Romney and President Barack Obama have aggressively courted Mayor Bloomberg's endorsement due to the economic bonafides he brings to the table with his past as a billionaire businessman, his record of preventing terrorism in New York and his status as an independent politician. Mayor Bloomberg didn’t make an endorsement in the 2008 presidential race after giving George W. Bush his backing in 2004.

In another press conference in May, Mayor Bloomberg said he would make an endorsement based on the candidates' respective "abilities to run the country" and their positions on "social values." However, he also said he was still a long way off from making a decision about an endorsement.

Mitt Romney on stage at the NAACP Convention. (Photo: Getty)

Back in 2002 when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney and his aides had no problem admitting he retained his position as CEO of Bain Capital after 1999. Press articles from the time describe how Mr. Romney was on a "leave of absence" after 1999 and had not fully cut ties with the private equity firm.

Now that he's running for president, Team Romney has repeatedly said he left the company after 1999, a claim that was called into question by yesterday's Boston Globe report revealing Mr. Romney signed documents identifying him as chief executive and chairman of Bain Capital as late as 2002. Mr. Romney being on a "leave of absence" would explain the discrepancy and it doesn't mean he played any role in managing the company, however, according to at least one former Bain Capital executive, during a prior leave of absence, Mr. Romney still remained in a very active role with the company.

The Obama campaign jumped on the reports of Romney's appearance on Bain Capital's SEC filings after his purported departure with a slew of statements on the "big Bain lie" and a conference call with the press where Obama For America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter suggested Mr. Romney may have committed a felony by "misrepresenting his own position at Bain to the SEC." Mr. Romney's campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul attempted to brush off the Bain brouhaha with a statement this morning saying, as the Romney campaign has throughout this election cycle, that Mr. Romney "left Bain Capital in February of 1999 to run the Olympics and had no input on investments or management of companies after that point."

However, it seems that Mr. Romney did not simply leave Bain Capital in 1999. Rather, he took a leave of absence to work on the Salt Lake City games. In 2002, when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney and his aides, including Eric Fehrnstrom who remains his senior advisor, spoke to the Boston Globe for a story after questions were raised about two businesses that taken over by Bain Capital and hit with layoffs while he worked with the company. That article refers multiple times to the fact that Mr. Romney "was CEO of Bain Capital until 2001," an assertion that apparently went unquestioned by Mr. Romney and his staff who defended him by saying he was on leave when the incidents occurred.

"Romney, who was CEO of Bain Capital until 2001, has repeatedly said he was on leave from the company in 1994, when strikes erupted at Ampad's now- closed Indiana paper plant, and again in 2001, when GST Steel, a Kansas City plant, laid off workers and closed," wrote Globe reporter Yvonne Abraham.

At the time, Mr. Romney's gubernatorial campaign provided the Globe with a letter clarifying his post-1999 role with Bain Capital.

"The campaign also produced a letter from Bain's lawyers, saying Romney was not actively involved with Bain after Feb. 11, 1999, even though he was sometimes called on to sign Bain's SEC filings," Ms. Abraham wrote.

Clearly it would have been more correct for Mr. Romney's presidential campaign to say he went on a leave of absence from Bain Capital in 1999 rather than, as they have repeatedly, claiming he left the company.  Since Mr. Romney was on a leave of absence and retained his title with Bain Capital, it would make sense that he would appear on SEC 13D forms even if he had no management role as the purpose of those forms is simply to outline the investors and titleholders of publicly traded companies. However, other press reports published during Mr. Romney's 2002 run for governor in the Bay State raise questions about whether Mr. Romney was actually absent during his leaves of absence from Bain Capital.

Prior to taking leave to run the Olympics in 1999, Mr. Romney took a leave of absence from Bain Capital during his 1994 Senate campaign. Another Globe article published in 2002 contains a quote from a former Bain Capital executive named Marc B. Wolpow who said Mr. Romney remained in a very active role at Bain Capital while he was supposedly on a leave of absence for his Senate race.

"I reported directly to Mitt Romney . . . You can't be CEO of Bain Capital and say, `I really don't know what my guys were doing,'" Mr. Wolpow said of Mr. Romney role at the company during his leave.

Mr. Wolpow declined to comment on this story. The Politicker reached out to Mr. Fehrnstrom multiple times yesterday to see why his current explanation of Mr. Romney's departure from Bain is different than the one he gave the Globe a decade ago but we have yet to receive a response.

President Obama (Photo: Getty)

In the wake of relentless attacks from the Obama campaign on Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital and his overseas assets, the Romney campaign released a new television adentitled "What Happened?" featuring footage of President Obama as a candidate four years ago criticizing negative campaigning.

"Four years ago, Candidate Obama spoke out against using 'stale tactics to scare voters.' Today, his plan to 'destroy Romney' includes dishonest attacks that he hopes will distract voters from his broken promises," the Romney campaign said in a statement on the ad.

The quotes used in the commercial come from President Obama's speech at the Democratic convention in 2008 where he criticized those who would "use stale tactics to scare voters" rather than "fresh ideas" or "make a big election about small things.”

However, President Obama clearly doesn't think Mr. Romney's business career or his investments are "small" issues. In an interview with CBS News' Charlie Rose that was taped yesterday, the president reiterated his belief Mr. Romney's career was worth looking at since his business acumen is his "main calling card."

"I think it is entirely appropriate to look at that record and see whether in fact his focus was creating jobs and he successfully did that. And when you look at the record there are questions there that have to be asked," the president said.

Watch the Romney campaign's "What Happened?" ad below.

Mitt Romney (Photo: Getty)

This morning's edition of the Boston Globe contained a report that "government documents filed by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital say Romney remained chief executive and chairman of the firm three years beyond the date he said he ceded control" bolstering the Obama campaign's argument that Mr. Romney was responsible for outsourcing that occurred at Bain. The Globe article came just as the Romney campaign released a new ad describing the outsourcing claims as "dishonest." Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded with a statement saying, "Romney’s False Ad Is Based On His Big Bain Lie."

"Mitt Romney’s ad is based on the false premise that he left Bain Capital in February 1999, an assertion that today’s Boston Globe and official documents filed with the SEC and the State of Massachusetts demonstrate is just not true," Ms. Smith said. "The fact is that Romney, despite his big Bain lie, served as president and CEO of his corporate buyout firm until three years later and is responsible for the American jobs that were shipped overseas during that period."

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul countered the Globe article with a statement of her own labeling the Globe story "inaccurate."

"The article is not accurate.  As Bain Capital has said, as Governor Romney has said, and as has been confirmed by independent fact checkers multiple times, Governor Romney left Bain Capital in February of 1999 to run the Olympics and had no input on investments or management of companies after that point," Ms. Saul said.

Ms. Saul's statement didn't specifically address the documents uncovered by the Globe, which include documents Bain Capital filed with the SEC and a "Massachusetts financial disclosure form Romney filed in 2003 states that he still owned 100 percent of Bain Capital in 2002."

Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter also issued a statement on the Globe story saying it put Mr. Romney "at the center of responsibility for troubling investments involving outsourcing and bankruptcies" that he claimed it was "dishonest" for the Obama campaign to tar him with in his ad. Ms. Cutter also said the report raises questions about another one of the Obama campaign's favored topics--Mr. Romney's failure to disclose more than a year of his tax returns.

"It also raises serious questions about why he misrepresented the date of his ‘departure,’ and whether he is concealing his tax returns because there is still more about this period and beyond that he doesn't want people to know," Ms. Cutter said. "It's time for Mitt Romney to come clean so that the American people can make their own judgments about his record and his motivations."

Cory Booker (Photo: YouTube)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is co-hosting a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at The Plaza Hotel tomorrow and he hopes it will lay to rest once and for all any impression he somehow defected from the president's re-election effort after his comments he was "nauseated" by the Obama campaign's attacks on Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital. The Politicker reached out to Mr. Booker to ask whether he believed the fundraiser would put to rest persistent chatter in the New York Post and elsewhere that the Bain brouhaha signified a break between him and President Obama. His response was emphatic.

"Since when do you all at NY Observer give so much credence to the Post on chatter? I'm giving speeches around the country for the party, I'm co-chair for the DNC Platform committee, I'm fund-raising for the campaign, hosting Thursday's event and more," Mr. Booker wrote. "Draw your own conclusions."

Last Friday, the New York Post published a report citing unnamed sources claiming Mr. Booker was "dead to" the White House and the Obama campaign following the controversy over his comments on Bain last month. Republicans and the Romney campaign have also repeatedly tried to capitalize on Mr. Booker's comments about Bain.

Almost immediately after the remarks were made, the Romney campaign released a video citing Mr. Booker's comments as evidence the president's "key supporters" had "enough of President Obama's attacks on free enterprise." The Romney campaign also sent emails highlighting Mr. Booker's remarks and other comments by former Democratic Congressmen Harold Ford Jr. and Artur Davis as "Dem Defections" and the Republican National Committee attempted to raise money off the flap. In an appearance on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show the day after his comments on the Bain attacks, Mr. Booker said he was outraged by the Republicans' attempts to score political points off of his remarks.

“As far as where my heart is right now I am very upset that I am being used by the GOP this way,” Mr. Booker said.

(Photo: Getty)

Thanks to the Obama campaign's attacks on Mitt Romney's career with Bain Capital, private equity has been thrust into the spotlight  on the campaign trail with partisans on both sides debating whether the industry has a negative effect on the country. Private Equity Growth Capital Council, a political action committee that was formed in 2007 by several of the country’s largest private equity firms, has responded with a series of videos  "aimed at educating media, policy makers and the public about the private equity industry and its positive contributions to the American economy."

"The presidential election has brought the private equity business model into sharp focus. But sometimes lost in the political debate is the positive impact private equity brings to the companies in which they invest," read a statement from PEGCC announcing their latest video.

The video series, which is entitled Private Equity at Work, highlights examples of companies that have been helped by private equity. A "national coupon and reverse logistics processing company" called Inmar is the latest video case study featured in the series.

“In 2011, private equity firms pumped $144 billion into 1,702 companies, and Inmar is just one of many hugely successful stories.  This new video illustrates yet another example of private equity growing and strengthening companies, and we are proud to add the Inmar case study to our collection of private equity success stories,” Steve Judge, President and CEO of PEGCC, said in a statement announcing the video.  “Private equity is part of the long-term solution for our country’s economic recovery.”

Members of PEGCC include 36 of the world's largest private equity firms including The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Bain Capital was a founding member of the PEGCC, but it is no longer part of the group. Along with its efforts to promote private equity, the PEGCC makes substantial donations to political candidates.

Watch the PEGCC's latest video below.

Mitt Romney

"The president has the most anti-business, anti-investment, anti-jobs administration I think I've ever seen," Mr. Romney said.

Sitting in Florida in front of a sign that said "Repeal and Replace Obamacare," Mr. Romney said the "doing fine" comment was one of several that shows President Obama is "out of touch with what's happening across America."

"He's had a number of very revealing comments that show just how far out of touch he is with the rest of the country. Yesterday, he said, among other things, that he didn't realize that Obamacare is having any impact on small business," said Mr. Romney. "I'd acquaint him with a survey that was done by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that asked small businesses how Obamacare's affecting them, 75 percent, three quarters of them, said it was less likely for them to hire people because of Obamacare."

Mr. Romney also responded to the Obama campaign's recent web video citing a statement he made that he would "cut back on government" while President Obama wants "more firemen, more policemen, more teachers" as evidence Mr. Romney would eliminate many of these jobs. He said it was "completely absurd" for the Obama campaign to claim he would cut firemen, policemen and teachers as a result of this statement.

"That's a very strange accusation, of course, teachers, and firemen and policemen are hired at the local level and also by states. The federal government doesn't pay for teachers, firefighters or policemen, so obviously, that's completely absurd," said Mr. Romney. "He's got a new idea though and that is to have another stimulus and to have the federal government send money to try and bail out cities and states. It didn't work the first time and it certainly wouldn't work the second time."

Mr. Romney also addressed the Obama campaign's persistent attacks on his career with the private equity firm Bain Capital. He said people want to see politicians with private sector experience because businesspeople know how to create jobs.

"I think people understand that we have a free enterprise system in America and that the right course for America is to encourage free enterprise," Mr. Romney said. "Small business, big business, we want people to hire."

Mr. Romney also suggested the president is out of touch with the hardships people are facing because he's spending too much time fundraising.

"The idea of selecting as a campaign slogan 'Forward' is so absurd. The American people are facing really tough circumstances," said Mr. Romney. "People are having hard times in this country and the president needs to go out and talk to people, not just do fundraisers."