Pat Dollard

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Times Of London:

Returning from his Hawaiian vacation to sinking poll ratings, Barack Obama has heeded Democratic calls for a tougher stance against John McCain and unleashed a multi-pronged attack against the Republican nominee with a series of state specific ads distinctly more negative in tone than his previous offerings.

The first, “Economy”, is airing in Philadelphia; East Lansing, Michigan; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and at least five other major cities in battleground states such as Colorado and Indiana. It paints McCain as out of touch with the lives of ordinary Americans, contrasting some of his previous positive statements on the economy with the experiences of voters:

In Des Moines; Tampa, Florida; and at least 10 other cities, Obama attempts to tie McCain’s support for the Iraq War to the foundering economy through an imaginary book, “Economics”:

In a twist on Hillary Clinton’s earlier “3am” ad, “Ringing”, airing in Texas, refrains from mentioning McCain by name but takes on his claim to the commander-in-chief mantle by highlighting Obama’s judgement on a number of key foreign policy issues:

“Ringing” TV Ad – video powered by Metacafe

Meanwhile “Punch”, airing in Ohio, emphasises McCain’s role in a deal that saw foreign-owned DHL takeover an American shipping company, leading to the loss of thousands of local jobs. The ad taps into the anxieties of blue collar Americans over unfettered free trade – of which McCain is a vocal advocate – using the word “foreign” as many times as is possible in a 30 second spot:

But how will the negative turn, from a man promising to eschew the Washington politics of old, be greeted by voters? With the nominee having taken a hit in the polls following a volley of Republican attacks, most Democrats now view the move as a necessary evil. Meanwhile, analysts note that while Obama has gone on the offensive locally, his national advertising campaign remains generally positive.

“If you can go quietly negative, that’s what he’s done; I think the perception is that he’s still running the positive campaign,” Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNS Media Intelligence, told the New York Times. “It’s a pretty smart, high-low, good cop/bad cop strategy.”