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Republican National Committee

"Change Direction 2" +
:60 ad run on cable and broadcast in PA, MI, WI and NH, announced July 13, 2011.

[SFX and Music] Obama (clip from 2008 Convention speech: You see, you see we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country. 

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage,

whether you can put a little money away at the end of each month so you can some day watch your child receive a college diploma. 

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business. 

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great.

Female Announcer: The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.


Notes:
The ad is interesting because, except for the disclaimer, all the words are spoken by Obama.  To be sure his words are accompanied almost James Bond like music and sound effects and by on screen text.

According to the RNC release, the ad is "part of a month-long 'Change Direction' economic messaging campaign highlighting President Obama’s failed economic leadership."

“The RNC will be taking on Barack Obama in every state where his failed policies have hurt job creators and Americans are looking for work,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “With unemployment at 9.2%, it is becoming clearer by the day that we need to change direction in this country away from the reckless economic policies of Barack Obama. From job strangling regulations to out of control spending and massive tax increases, President Obama’s policies have put our economy on a dangerous path. Under President Obama, 2.1 million more Americans are unemployed, 6 million more have foreclosed on their mortgages, and $3.7 trillion has been added to the national debt. It is time for America to put the brakes on Barack Obama’s failed leadership, change direction, and put a Republican in the White House so we can turn this economy around." 

The DNC responded thusly:

The RNC, which is deep in debt and has enjoyed, at best, mediocre fundraising, claims to have a new one minute ad running in four states (PA, WI, NH and MI) attacking the President on the economy.  Please see below for a statement from DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse in response to the ad as well as a fact check of its content.

“No one should be surprised that a Republican Party run by a Chairman who just this week said it would ‘not be the end of the world’ if the nation were to default on its debt for the first time would rather run negative ads than work to find solutions to get our fiscal house in order and create jobs,” said Woodhouse.  “While the President continues to fight to clean up a mess that was years in the making, the Republican Party and its candidates for president are playing politics with our economy and are fighting to protect the very budget-busting tax breaks and loopholes for oil companies, corporate jet owners, the wealthy and Wall Street that got us in to the current mess.  Americans want solutions – and other than negative attacks and working to end Medicare and revive the failed policies of the last decade that nearly sank our economy – Republicans aren’t offering any.”