With President Obama’spoll numbers slumping, his campaign yesterday turned out a new ad using “Sesame Street” star Big Bird to attack Mitt Romney. (Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON — President Obama tried to give the bird to Mitt Romney — but wound up laying an egg.
The Obama campaign, short on its own message, raced to hide behind Big Bird yesterday in a desperate bid to whip up public opinion against Romney with a new ad that turns the lovable “Sesame Street” character into a frightening fowl behind Wall Street’s worst scandals.
The ad plays off Romney’s debate vow to yank the $445 million federal subsidy for PBS — providing the Democrats with their only comeback from a dreadful debate performance by Obama.
During the 30-second political parody, the huge yellow Muppet is portrayed as the “evil genius” behind Bernie Madoff, Kenneth Lay and other real-life Wall Street “gluttons of greed.”
“Mitt Romney knows it’s not Wall Street you have to worry about, it’s ‘Sesame Street,’” the narrator says.
“Mitt Romney: Taking on our enemies, no matter where they nest.”
Bad move. The ad offended even Sesame Workshop, the PBS-affiliated nonprofit behind the legendary children’s program.
It demanded that Obama “take [it] down.’’
“Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns,” it said in a statement.
“We have approved no campaign ads, and, as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.”
Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the request is being reviewed.
But the ad is still set to air on cable and broadcast TV during comedy shows, according to the campaign.
Republicans say that instead of trying to tackle major issues — from the anemic economic recovery to the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya — Democrats have been trying to throw up a distraction by tackling Romney over PBS funding.
They said the ad showed that Obama is out of ideas, can’t run on his record and has resorted to the sort of politics of personal destruction that the president in the past had condemned.
“You have to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about saving Big Bird,” quipped Romney at a campaign rally with about 1,000 supporters in Van Meter, Iowa.
“These are tough times with real serious issues,” said the Republican. “We need to have a president who talks about saving the American people and saving good jobs and saving our future.”
The Republican National Committee circulated a memo featuring “Sesame Street” character Count von Count, which counted up Obama’s mentions of Big Bird (8), Elmo (5), Libya (0) and plans to fix the economy (0).
Obama practically made Big Bird an unofficial campaign mascot since Romney gave him a shout-out in the debate.
“I like PBS. I love Big Bird,” Romney said. “But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”
Obama stuck to his new “Sesame Street” message at Ohio State University in Columbus.
“Elmo’s making a run for the border. Oscar’s hiding out in a trash can,” he said, describing the characters as fleeing from Romney’s budget ax.
“We’re cracking down on them.”
Earlier, musician and DJ wil.i.am entertained the crowd at the rally by playing the instantly recognizable theme song from “Sesame Street.”
Obama last week sent Big Bird — or at least a crude imitation — to pester Romney at a rally in rural Virginia.
The faux Big Bird carried a sign that read, “Crack down on Wall Street not Sesame Street.”
Democratic strategist James Carville defended the president’s ad.
“If you have something that’s universally known and universally popular, and it gets attacked, it’s a good idea to put it out there and defend it,” he said, according to the Web site Politico.com.