MANCHESTER -- Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is featuring two New Hampshire businesses as he pushes his message that President Barack Obama is “insulting” private business people by saying they have needed government help to succeed.

At the same time, state Democrats are focusing on state Republican Party chairman Wayne MacDonald's comment to The Washington Post this week that he believes Romney would be well-served by releasing additional tax returns.

The NHDP on Thursday began an online petition drive asking Romney to “follow the advice of Wayne MacDonald” and release more than the two years of returns he has promised to make public.

“Wayne MacDonald and I actually agree on something,” said state Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley.

The message battle continued in swing state New Hampshire as Romney prepares to return to the state Friday for a campaign event with potential running mate New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte at Coastal Forest Products' warehouse and wood finishing facility in Bow.

Jack Gilchrist of Hudson-based Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Thursday appeared in a new Romney campaign web ad called “These Hands,” in which he questions Obama's statements that successful business people received help from the government and “somebody else.”

Gilchrist asks in the ad: “My father's hands didn't build this company? My hands didn't build this company? My son's hands aren't building this company?

“President Obama, you're killing us out here. Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?” Gilchrist says.

Gilchrist, who hosted Romney at his business on the day before the New Hampshire Primary in January, said that after the web ad hit the internet, he was flooded with media calls and e-mails.

He appeared Thursday afternoon on the Fox Business Network with talk show host Neil Cavuto, who said he has become “a bit of a rock star.”

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called it “a great ad. It cuts to the heart of what the country's all about, what it's always been about.”

But Buckley said the ad contains “distortions” and, along with “smears” by former Gov. John H. Sununu, “shows how desperate the Romney campaign has become this week.”

Gilchrist told UnionLeader.com he decided to appear in the ad because “I'm pretty much in that 'mad-as-hell-and-can't-take-it-anymore' category.

“I don' like our sound-bite, professorial leader who blames everybody else for what's going on. Men don't act like this. Leaders don't act like this,” Gilchrist said

“I didn't say anything that I don't believe to be true and I don't think the ad is misrepresentative,” said Gilchrist.

Buckley focused his remarks on his Republican counterpart, MacDonald, who told The Washington Post on Wednesday “there's certainly an upside” to Romney releasing additional tax information.

Romney has said he will release no more than two years of returns.

“Certainly, I don't think Mitt Romney has anything to hide, and probably the best thing to do is to eliminate any chance for (the Democrats) to make this an issue,” MacDonald said. “I would hesitate to tell the governor what to do, but there's certainly a political advantage to complying with the request.”

Buckley said Romney is refusing to release his returns “because he doesn't want the American people to know whether he's taken advantage of foreign tax havens to avoid paying his fair share.”

Buckley said Romney “believes in a tax system with two sets of rules, one for himself and those at the top and another for everyone else.”

Romney has “left too much unexplained” about his private sector record, “which he has made the cornerstone of his campaign,” Buckley said.

He said the online petition at https://www.change.org/petitions/mitt-romney-release-additional-years-of-tax-returns asks voters to stand with both Democrats “and the New Hampshire Republican Party calling on Romney to release his tax returns.”

Buckley noted that a USA Today/Gallup poll today showed that 54 percent of Americans believe Romney should release more tax returns than the two years he has promised, while 37 percent said they did not believe he should. USA Today said 30 percent of Republicans believe he should release more returns.

“Wayne knows the people of New Hampshire are going to insist that Mitt Romney release his tax returns and obviously it's Wayne's job to do everything he can to elect Republicans,” Buckley said. “And if this issue continue it's not going to be very helpful to him and his ticket.”

Romney spokesman Ryan Williams responded, “The American people are asking for a proven leader like Mitt Romney to clean up the economic mess left by President Obama and his incompetent administration. Obama surrogates will do anything to avoid a discussion about the President's disgraceful jobs record because they are unable to defend his failed economic policies and broken promises.”

Pike Severance of Coastal Forest Products said the firm is owned by his father, Ted, headquartered in Bedford, has two facilities in Bow and employs about 130. He said the workforce has remained steady even as the business has struggled during the downturn in the housing construction market in recent years.

Romney will visit what Severance called his company's “pre-stained facility” where siding is painted. He said there are 25 employees at that site.

Severance said the company was able to maintain its sales by expanding its product line. Coastal is a lumber wholesale distributor which sells to retail lumberyards.

“The past few years have been difficult,” Severance said, “and that's to be expected with the housing market having been down so much. It's been a struggle but we fought through it.

“We haven't really laid off people,” he said. “We've had to juggle things around.”

Severance said he and his father support Romney “because we hope and we believe he will support small businesses.

“We do it on our own,” said Severance, who added, “The amount of government bureaucracy we have to deal with is unbelievable.”