Among all the rhetoric and exultant language on the first day of the 2012 Republican Convention, one phrase was notably absent: Bain Capital.
Not a single speaker was heard mentioning the name of the private equity firm founded by the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, despite hours on Tuesday devoted to selling his record as a strong leader capable of turning the economy around.
It shows how toxic Bain has become for the former Massachusetts governor after sustaining attacks both from fellow Republicans during a vicious primary race and more recently from President Barack Obama's campaign, which highlighted Bain's investment in companies that sent American jobs overseas.
Romney was painted as an "outsourcer-in-chief," and apparently those attacks worked.
Even Ann Romney neglected to call Bain Capital by name when discussing her husband's success building a business.
From her convention speech Tuesday night:
He stayed in Massachusetts after graduate school and got a job. I saw the long hours that started with that first job. I was there when he and a small group of friends talked about starting a new company. I was there when they struggled and wondered if the whole idea just wasn't going to work. Mitt's reaction was to work harder and press on.
Today that company has become another great American success story.
That company?
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