E.J. Dionne, a Washington Post columnist, called the new anti-Obama ad from pro-Romney Crossroads GPS super PAC “fairly conventional” on msnbc’s Jansing & Co. today.
Conventional perhaps because of its simplicity. Using clips of now-President Obama speaking as a candidate in the 2008 presidential election, the ad intones “We need solutions, not just promises,” and accuses the president of breaking his promises.
The 60-second spot will play in 10 key states, including Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, and North Carolina, as part of the start of a $25 million ad blitz from Crossroads, which is technically not affiliated with the Mitt Romney election campaign.
President Obama's re-election campaign also recently unfurled a $25 million ad blitz in key swing states.
Effective or not, conservative groups are hoping to outspend the president in the 2012 election.
While both the Romney presidential campaign and Obama’s campaign announced similar fundraising takes for April – around $40 million – it is the pro-Republican agenda money raised from outside groups like Crossroads, Restore Our Future, and et al. that is outmatching the Obama money machine. The pro-Obama Priorities USA super PAC has raised only about $10 million to date. Crossroads alone has said it will spend upwards of $300 million against the president in the 2012 election.
“That’s going to be a real challenge to the Obama campaign,” Dionne noted, explaining how the impact of the Citizens United decision is upending the usual limitations on campaign financing from years past. "All of this outside conservative money, enabled and encouraged by the Citizens United decision, is going to be out there against Obama. He hasn't raised as much on the super PAC side. Wall Street doesn't like him and hasn't been contributing. On the conservative side there will be almost unlimited money to spend against Obama."
A New York Times piece out today explains how funding from outside the campaigns could result in even nastier negative campaign ads, such as a new effort to resurface the relationship between Obama and his one-time spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a controversial figure.