Late GOP ad blitz stresses business experience, courts women

The Romney campaign unveiled a new ad today, "Secretary of Business", casting President Obama as a business neophyte and touting Romney's business savvy as the cure for what ails the American economy.

The narrator begins, "Barack Obama says he may appoint a secretary of business. His solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat."

Setting up a contrast between the nominees, the narrator asks, "Why not have a president who actually understands business?"

After reciting a series of dismal statistics about the Obama economy ("Millions of people can't find work...more families on welfare...a record number of Americans on food stamps"), the narrator explains, "Mitt Romney understands business, knows how to create jobs, and get our economy moving. He's done it before. He can do it again."

The ad hews closely to the central premise of Romney's candidacy - that his private sector experience will jump-start American economic growth and job creation.

Romney's campaign has not disclosed where the amount or location of the ad-buy.

Meanwhile, the American Future Fund, an outside group supporting the Republican ticket, released a pair of new ads - one courting the women's vote and another using footage from the first presidential debate to pitch Romney as an optimistic problem-solver.

The first ad, "Real Solutions", is aimed squarely at the female vote, highlighting a series of women who explain why they are voting for Romney.

"We are America's women. We work hard, we raise kids, we teach, we inspire, we manage, we compete, and we don't settle, we find real solutions. Right now, 23 million americans are out of work...our country needs jobs, a healthy economy, and a plan for our future. That's why we're voting for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan."

The second ad, "New Path", is a minute-long, positive spot using footage from Romney's performance in the first presidential debate to cast the GOP nominee as a man with a plan - an optimist and a problem-solver who will invigorate America's economy.

"It's an election about the course of America," explains Romney. "What kind of America do you want to have for yourself and for your children? What we're seeing right now is bigger government, spending more, taxing more - if you will, trickle-down government, and it's not working. There are people that are really hurting today in this country."

Pivoting from disappointment to optimism, Romney says, "It's time for a new path. I'll get incomes up again. If I'm president, I will help create 12 million new jobs in this country," briefly detailing his five-point plan for job creation.

He concludes, "For me, this is about jobs. We need to have leadership that will actually bring people together and get the job done."

The American Future Fund ads, backed by over $4 million, will run in rotation in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The group's sizable ad-buy in historically Democratic Pennsylvania and Michigan underscores Republicans' desire to expand the electoral playing field less than a week before the election.