This post is part of our guest series from Inkwell Strategies analyzing the 2012 campaign ad war.
As the 2012 ad war heats up, political action committees are starting to get in on the action. Case in point, Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS just announced a major ad buy targeting President Obama in several key battleground states.
Looking past the GOP primaries to a tough general election, the ad, entitled The Two Presidents, knocks Obama on tax policy. Unlike many of the campaign ads we’ve highlighted to date — which are produced primarily to garner free media coverage — this is a major buy. Crossroads is spending $2.6 million to run the ad in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Colorado — all states the president carried in 2008.
Rather than sticking with the familiar partisan talking points of taxes and the economy, the ad appeals to moderate and independent voters by unfavorably contrasting President Obama with former President Bill Clinton.
The first image we see is a slightly askew still of Obama and Clinton, facing one another. If you pause on this image, it subtly appears as if Obama is looking down his nose disrespectfully at the former president. The next is a split-screen view of the White House. To the left, the sky above is overcast and ominous. To the right, the sky is cloudless and sunny. “Two presidents. Two visions,” the narrator intones (could anyone have predicted that Bill Clinton would ever occupy the conservative “sunny skies” side of the screen?)
The ad then segues into quick, edited clips of Clinton and Obama speaking. Grainy footage of Clinton coming out against raising taxes is quickly followed by cuts of Obama repeating the word “taxes” and a news anchor reporting Obama’s new jobs plan. This part of the ad feels like a cheap shot: anyone can compile clips of a president of either party uttering the word “taxes.”
Next, the ad quotes the Washington Post and the Associated Press as evidence that President Obama’s American Jobs Act would in fact raise taxes. Following clips of Obama calling on Congress to pass his bill, the narrator deftly responds, “Attack problems, not people,” though the ad doesn’t specify which people it is accusing Obama of attacking.
While “The Two Presidents” is well-produced, viewers may ultimately feel that it favors style over substance. There is no question that tax policy will be a major part of the 2012 discussion; this spot doesn’t add much to the conversation.
Yet, the use of President Clinton to further the Republican case against President Obama is both clever and revealing. While the Republican candidates continue to fight for the GOP’s far right in the primaries, Crossroads GPS gives us a glimpse of the strategy we can expect the eventual nominee to take next fall. And packing a $2.6 million punch this yearly in the campaign season, it’s a preview of how costly the 2012 ad war will be.
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