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Romney’s campaign clock bears uncanny resemblance to Seymour Durst’s version

From left: Mitt Romney and his debt clock (credit: Mitt Romney campaign site), the debt clock erected by Seymour Durst and Seymour Durst 
From left: Mitt Romney and his debt clock (credit: Mitt Romney campaign site), the debt clock erected by Seymour Durst and Seymour Durst 

The Durst Organization, a long-time supporter of Democratic politicians, has inadvertently made a contribution to Republican’s Mitt Romney campaign — in the form of a clock design, the New York Observer reported.

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Romney’s clock looks similar in both format and color to the one that late developer Seymour Durst erected in 1989 in front of Bryant Park to depict the increasing national debt. Romney uses his as a prop to “represent President Obama’s economic failures,” Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein said.

The top of Romney’s clock reads “OUR NATIONAL DEBT,” and “CUT THE SPENDING” at the very bottom. Its live count depicts money that each taxpayer owes. Durst’s clock, on the other hand, is a general political statement not directed at any one politician.

Durst’s son Douglas, a registered Independent and chairman at the Durst Organization, has taken over the operations of the original clock. It’s now located on the corner of 44th Street and Sixth Avenue, on the side of another building that the family owns. The Durst Organization didn’t know about Romney’s prop clock, but according to the Observer, they don’t mind his use of a similar one.

“People borrow the clock all the time,” a Durst spokesperson told the Observer. “It’s in the public domain at this point.” The Observer writes that the Romney campaign did not respond to requests for comment. [NYO] 

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Durst OrganizationMitt Romney