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By Robert A. Vella

We all know the Republican Party supports, and is supported by, big business.  That characterization is certainly no secret.  However, the depth of that support can cause discomfort within GOP ranks when specific details become an election year issue.  Such is now the case with the outsourcing of jobs, and the off-shoring of production, overseas.  Just as Mitt Romney was hurt in 2012 by his ties to Bain Capital and its infamous record of vulture capitalism, and by his aristocratic-sounding “47 percent” and “corporations are people” remarks, this year’s midterm Republican candidates risk alienating blue-collar workers across the political spectrum.

Two of these candidates are taking different approaches to the problem.  One is doubling down in support of outsourcing, while the other is attempting to walk a delicate tightrope on the issue.

From the Daily Kos – David Perdue didn’t just say he was proud of outsourcing jobs. He said it on camera:

Georgia Republican David Perdue didn’t just respond to questions about his long career outsourcing jobs by saying “defend it? I’m proud of it!” He said it on camera. In a tone that said “why would you ask me this crazy question?” It really has to be seen to be believed that any Senate candidate, let alone one with a small lead in a close race in the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country, would basically bear hug the idea of slashing American manufacturing jobs and replacing them with poverty-wage jobs in Asia.

From the Daily Kos – Ernst campaign struggles to explain her support for tax breaks to outsourcing companies:

Joni Ernst’s campaign has lost its challenge to keep a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ad off of the air. A local television station will keep running the ad, which talks about the 20,000 Iowa jobs that have been outsourced, and Ernst’s pledge “to keep special tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas.”

Here’s where it gets fun. Watch the contortions the Ernst campaign goes through to try to say that her pledge to Grover Norquist doesn’t mean what it actually means—continued tax breaks for large corporations.