Politics

RNC launches second ‘Change Direction’ ad, aims at four swing states

Jeff Winkler Contributor
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The Republican National Committee launched the sequel to its “Change Direction” ad campaign on Wednesday, but this one doesn’t feature any screeching tires or tumbling trains. Instead, “Change Direction 2” is much more realistic, matching President Barack Obama’s uplifting 2008 convention speech with present day downers.

Between candidate Obama’s rhetorical flourishes like “[we Democrats] measure progress by how many people can find a job to pay the mortgage” and “whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of the month so you can one day watch your child receive a college diploma,” the ad features some stark figures, namely: “6 million more foreclosures … $3.7 trillion added to the national debt … 2.1 million more unemployed.”

The campaign is part of the RNC’s month-long national cable TV blitz, with a focus on four swing states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and New Hampshire.

“Obama easily won these states by an average margin of 13 points in 2008, and together they’ve mustered only one win for a GOP Presidential nominee in the last five Presidential elections,” said the RNC’s political director Rick Wiley, explaining the ad strategy in a memo obtained by Politico. “But recent polling in these states, and overwhelming GOP victories in 2010, shows Obama isn’t just weaker than he was in 2008, but he is in real danger of losing electoral votes.”

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