Democrats launch first attack ad against Mitt Romney. UPDATE

WASHINGTON–GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is the target of the first spot–a negative hit–produced by a new group, Democratic “Priorities USA,” run by two former Obama White House staffers, Bill Burton, who was a deputy press secretary and Sean Sweeney, who was chief of staff for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former White House Chief of Staff.

From the release: “Priorities USA Action today launched the first advertisement of the 2012 presidential campaign focusing on the issue of Medicare and Mitt Romney’s visit to South Carolina this weekend. In the ad, Romney is pressed on whether he stands with Newt Gingrich – who called Congressman Ryan’s plan to essentially end Medicare “radical” – or Governor Nikki Haley, who said that Gingrich was cutting Ryan “off at the knees.”

UPDATES

I asked Burton about the ad buy and who made the spot. His reply did not include the size of the ad buy:

“Global Strategy Group made it. Statewide, election-year level buy over the course of his short trip. If you are watching the news this weekend in SC, you will see this ad. ”

During a conference call, Burton and Begala were asked about the size of the buy. They declined to offer a number.