There’s a series of new Obama radio ads tailored for eight battleground states. In each state, the Obama campaign has designed very specific one minute ads highlighting some facet of Rep. Ryan’s budget plan or past voting record, and how that might impact voters in that state if Mitt Romney wins in November.
In Virginia, voters hear that the “Ryan-Romney budget plan” would slash “investments in road and infrastructure projects.” The ad, made to sign like a typical radio traffic bulletin, is aimed at commuters stuck in traffic in the desperately freeway- and highway-deficient Northern Virginia suburbs of DC (not to mention there are a sadly deficient number of lanes for the paltry number of freeways that do exist).
In Florida, the ad features a man and a woman, both whom sound to be elderly, taking about how the “Ryan-Romney plan” would “end Medicare and replace it with a voucher, reports WSJ.
In Colorado an ad that centers on solar and wind projects, or in Nevada, where the ad targets returning veterans and how Rep. Ryan “voted against a bill to protect veterans and active duty service members from foreclosures.”
The other three ads, in Iowa, New Hampshire, and North Carolina, get even more specific. The North Carolina ad warns that Ryan voted against $20 million “tailored to help with post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide prevention” among returning veterans.
See the Wall Street Journal story here
RBR-TVBR observation: Someone in the Obama camp was pretty smart with the Northern Virginia ad targeting its pathetic freeway system. There is not much being done besides a very expensive toll lane on a section of the Virginia Beltway south of DC. Otherwise, most of the freeways/highways here are solidly backed up for dozens of miles—in both directions, seven days a week (and we’re not talking about just rush hour). Whatever Federal or State government entities or individuals that control the freeways and expansions thereof in Northern Virginia are absolutely and utterly inept—ask anyone who lives here.
The idea is an interesting choice, but the implementation of the Northern Virginia ads is surprisingly amateurish. The first few times I heard it, it sounded like a low-budget ad from a local representative, not a national campaign. (the way the voice intonations are exaggerated, in particular) Every time I hear the “approved by Barrack Obama” message at the end surprises me.
I find the choice interesting, too. Republican candidates have traditionally favored road construction over public transportation, while democratic candidates have favored public transportation over roads. I understand that road/bridge *maintenance* has been a traditional republican/democrat divide, but that rarely impacts *capacity*, which is the target of the advertisement.
Not clear to me if the ad will be effective as produced.
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