Two Obama-appointed members of the White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness are leading figures in the private equity industry, a fact that clashes with Dem attacks on Romney's 15-year history as a private equity executive.
ABC News reports Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons and former Blackstone Group member Mark Gallogly both sit on the advisory committee:
While neither Gallogly nor Parsons is running for office, Democrats and the Obama campaign have sought in some ways to demonize the industry itself, part of an aggressive effort to discredit Romney’s top selling point.
They have highlighted Bain investments that led to layoffs and outsourcing and devastated some communities. One Obama campaign TV ad attacking Romney’s record called him a "job destroyer."
Obama criticized his presumptive opponent for increasing shareholder wealth at a summit in Chicago, failing to acknowledge his Job Council’s ties to the industry:
"If your main argument for how to grow the economy is ‘I knew how to make a lot of money for investors,’ then you’re missing what this job is about," President Obama said of Romney on Monday.