The National Republican Senatorial Committee has a new web out titled “Change You Can Believe In?” Instead of aiming at the Senate, though, they’ve decided to aim higher — at the White House. The ad reviews Obama’s promises as a candidate and compares them to his actions in his first 63 days as President. Needless to say, the comparison doesn’t make Obama look good:
Hmmm. It’s a good ad, web-only at 95 seconds, but should the NRSC target Obama rather than Harry Reid? They certainly could do both, and since this is a web-only ad, the opportunity cost is non-existent — in other words, the NRSC isn’t wasting much time or money on it. Barack Obama is the Democratic Party leader, both nominally and popularly, so any dent in his standing helps the Republicans in Senate races, at least indirectly. However, it seems to me that Chris Dodd and Harry Reid, both up for election in 2010, make better and more direct targets.
Also, the small part about AIG bonuses feels like the wrong direction for Republicans to go. That’s playing on Democratic turf. What do you think?
Transcript follows:
TEXT: “IS HE KEEPING HIS PROMISES?”
TEXT: “CANDIDATE OBAMA”
SENATOR OBAMA: “From the moment I take office, my top priority will be to do everything I can to make sure your tax dollars are protected.”
TEXT: “MAKE SURE YOUR TAX DOLLARS ARE PROTECTED”
TEXT: “PRESIDENT OBAMA”
NBC’S BRIAN WILLIAMS: “So you can understand the outrage when word first broke that AIG was paying out some big bonuses to some of their employees.”
TEXT: “CANDIDATE OBAMA”
SENATOR OBAMA: “I want to use a scalpel, so that people who need help are getting help.”
“Absolutely we need earmark reform, and when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.”
TEXT: “I WILL GO LINE BY LINE”
TEXT: “PRESIDENT OBAMA”
CBS’S CHIP REID: “…as he signed a bill stuffed with pork barrel spending. Behind closed doors it was critics say, business as usual. 1100 pages loaded with about 8500 pet projects known as earmarks.”
TEXT: “CANDIDATE OBAMA”
SENATOR OBAMA: “The key is making sure that the next Treasury Secretary understands that it’s not enough just to help those at the top.”
TEXT: “IT’S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO HELP THOSE AT THE TOP”
TEXT: “PRESIDENT OBAMA”
MSNBC’S KEITH OLBERMANN: “It’s clear he knew and approved of bonuses that the White House now thoroughly condemns.”
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I have complete confidence in Tim Geithner.”
TEXT: “CANDIDATE OBAMA”
SENATOR OBAMA: “It’s time to return to fiscal responsibility and pay-as-you-go budgeting.”
TEXT: “PAY-AS-YOU-GO BUDGETING”
TEXT: “PRESIDENT OBAMA”
ABC NEWS: “The president’s budget will leave a whopping $9.3 trillion deficit, far larger than administration estimates.”
TEXT: “IF SEEING IS BELIEVING… IS THIS CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN?”
PBS’S GWEN IFILL: “He fell well short of some of the things he said during the campaign.”
