In fact, party standard bearers are adopting the same line of argument as President Obama.
Given that it was the most predictable attack of the entire election, it's been surprising how poorly the Obama team has handled its attacks on Mitt Romney's Bain Capital record. The most embarrassing moment came when Cory Booker called the critiques "nauseating," only to quickly and artlessly backtrack. But after several days of flailing, the president finally articulated what his aides could not: an argument that while there's nothing wrong with private equity, it doesn't make you qualified to sit in the Oval Office. Here's what he said:
The reason this is relevant to the campaign is because my opponent, Governor Romney, his main calling card for why he thinks he should be President is his business expertise. He is not going out there touting his experience in Massachusetts. He is saying, I'm a business guy and I know how to fix it, and this is his business. And when you're President, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot.
That argument is a little complicated, and it won't persuade everyone. But it's different from attacking Bain Capital itself.
Now, over the last few days, we've seen a couple further comments from high-profile Democrats Bill Clinton and Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts. Politico declared, "Deval Patrick aims for Mitt Romney, hits Obama," while Aaron Blake of the Washington Post was even more strident: "Bill Clinton sticks another fork in Obama's Bain strategy, says Romney had 'sterling' business career."