Much has been made over the past few days about Obama taking McCain to the mat on the economy, and rightfully so. The pundits are worried. Can Obama seize the moment? Can he make his plan resonate with the American people? Can he get to the “kitchen table issues?” A first response will come in the form of a two minute ad that will be airing beginning today.
The link above (I’m a rookie at embedding) [Ed the Moose: – video inserted] leads to an ad that is a two minute conversation between the senator and the audience. (I didn’t recognize that two minute ads generally don’t run until much closer to the election. Guess that 66 million came in handy.)
Money quote:
“Here’s what I believe we need to do. Reform our tax system to give a $1,000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs. End the ‘anything goes’ culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions. Fast track a plan for energy ‘made-in-America’ that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work. Crack down on lobbyists – once and for all – so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans. “
The text calls for partisanship. Working together. Ending the war in Iraq. It exhorts viewers to go to his website to read the full economic plan (the link is on the screen the whole time.) I like it. It’s a good start. It’s a conversation with the American people, something I think is important, and, importantly, it looks like Obama got there first.
I’ll make no secret of the fact that I live in PA, with its perennial “swing state” status, and all the fun that implies. I’ll also make no bones about it: although PA has historically gone democratic in in the general election, Obama faces a challenge here, for reasons not pertinent to this diary. (See Ed Rendell’s primary comments.) On the ground, though, there is no more important than the economy. The story leads the local news every night. People pray openly in church for enough money to put food on the table.
This ad, I think, can be a real winner.
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