The Democratic National Committee has released a new video touting President Barack Obama's accomplishments and needling Artur Davis, a one-time Obama surrogate-turned-Republican, by using Davis' own words against him.
Davis, a former Democratic congressman from Alabama, was a co-chair of Obama's last presidential campaign. But earlier this year, he switched parties, and now Davis is set to speak at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Monday night.
In the campaign spot, Davis is seen delivering the nominating speech at the 2008 Democratic convention, outlining the ambitions of an Obama presidency. As he speaks, statements appear, a la Pop Up Video, describing how President Obama has kept various pledges.
"Artur Davis' speech at the GOP convention isn't about Barack Obama ... It's about Artur Davis," the ad concludes.
Davis took the ad in stride. "My old Democratic friends are reminding me of an old rule: In politics, if you fear someone is getting through and people are listening, attack them as fast as you can," he said. "I do wish they had not reminded me that I have gained weight in four years."
Davis broke with Obama when he voted against the president's signature health care law in 2010, the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus who did so. At the time, he was running, unsuccessfully, for governor of Alabama.
He has also written columns advocating for voter ID laws to prevent voter fraud, which studies show barely exists. Voting rights advocates say such laws serve to disenfranchise people of color and the poor, who may lack the needed ID. And earlier this year, Davis said he was mulling a run for Congress as a Republican in Virginia.
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