Obama targets Olympic audience with economic TV ad

[August 15, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama's campaign plans to air a new TV ad during the Olympic Games that spotlights his proposals for job growth, middle-class tax breaks and other economic areas.

With Obama off the campaign trail during a vacation in Hawaii, the campaign has turned to advertising as a way of fostering Obama's economic message in his absence. The latest ad will begin airing Monday on national cable and all 50 states just as Obama takes up campaign appearances again.

Using as a background time-lapse photography showing a house under construction, the 30-second ad also refers to Obama's plans for ending tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas, helping those who create jobs domestically, and making energy independence "an urgent national priority."

The economy and all it entails, from jobs and taxes to the high price of gasoline, rose to the top of voters' concerns over the summer. The campaigns of Obama and Republican rival John McCain have traded barbs over who is best suited to provide economic relief for middle-class voters.

McCain's campaign charges that Obama will raise taxes, thus hurting job growth, while Obama's campaign contends that McCain supports tax cuts put in place by the Bush administration that heavily favor the wealthy.

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On the Net:

Obama ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?vktlbQRQGi6Y

McCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/

Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

[Associated Press; By LYNN BERRY]

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