NationalJournal.com's Ad Spotlight

Monday, April 21, 2008

Pennsylvania Potpourri

Filed under Hillary Rodham ClintonFiled under Domestic IssuesFiled under Television Ad
Posted at 5:45 PM
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If undecided voters in the Keystone State aren't swayed by the deluge of ads coming from the Clinton and Obama camps, several third-party groups have stepped in to make the case for their preferred Democrat.

With Barack Obama spending nearly three times more than his opponent on advertising in Pennsylvania, a pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton 527 group, The American Leadership Project, hoped to help level the playing field by launching an ad last week attacking Obama's health care policy. "Hillary Clinton's health care plan would help every American get affordable, quality health care; Barack Obama's plan would leave as many as 15 million Americans uncovered," an announcer claims. "So you would either be one of the millions without coverage, or you'll keep paying more to provide emergency health care for the millions of uninsured."

The group is funded largely by two unions that have endorsed Clinton, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Machinists Union, but has also received contributions from individual donors who have already given the maximum $2,300 directly to the Clinton campaign. The New York Times reports that ALP has had trouble fundraising, however, and will only spend about $425,000 in Pennsylvania, though the group says it intends to play a bigger role in the upcoming Indiana contest.

Meanwhile, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which endorsed Obama in February and has already run ads for the candidate in Ohio (subscription) and Texas (subscription), is up with an ad in Pennsylvania that touches on the hot-button issue of gas prices.

"Change" shows frustrated motorists lamenting the cost of filling up their gas tanks. "Oil companies are making a lot of money right now," one woman says, while a man adds: "Too many politicians are in the pocket of Big Oil." But "Barack Obama's different. He doesn't take money from PACs or lobbyists," another man claims.

Finally, one Pennsylvania congressman is using the high-profile primary as an opportunity to gain some face time with the state's voters. Tenth District Rep. Chris Carney (D), an uncommitted superdelegate, is running a TV ad encouraging his constituents to go out and vote on Tuesday. "Whatever your choice, the right choice is to vote," he proclaims.