Mitt Romney warms up in new ad

As he puts a rocky trip abroad behind him, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) is out with a new minute-long ad that sweeps over the case for his presidency with a human touch.

In it Romney goes over his resume — Bain, the Olympics, Massachusetts — but in a personal, down-to-earth way.

Romney speaks directly to the camera, as Obama did in a recent campaign ad. Like Obama, Romney is reintroducing himself to voters with a positive message in a sea of negative attacks.

“I know what it’s like to hire people and to wonder whether you’re going to be able to make ends meet down the road,” the candidate says from the front wheel of an SUV. “From those experiences, I went off to have the chance at running the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.”

While the Olympics “not only a scandal ... but a financial crisis,” he says, “the real experience was in Massachusetts,” where he worked with Democrats to fix “a budget that was badly out of balance.”

He concludes, ““I want to use those experiences to help Americans have a better future.”

The only jab at Obama is in the closing voiceover, which says “Believe in the America you built” — a subtle nod to the Republican campaign’s ongoing campaign against the phrase “you didn’t build that.” (Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith responded that the Republican’s record ”is one of outsourcing, job losses, and massive debt.”)

The ad is being paid for by the Republican National Committee.