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Thursday, June 19, 2008
Obama going up on television in Georgia — see the ad here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Barack Obama campaign just confirmed that the Democratic presidential presumptive will be going up on television Friday in 18 states, including Georgia.
It’s the first general election TV ad by a presidential candidate in Georgia.
The 60-second spot is entitled “Country I Love.” Here’s a first look:
In addition to Georgia, the Obama campaign is airing the ad in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia.
Those familiar with the purchase say it looks to be aimed at rural areas, but you’ll also notice a heavy blue-collar tone. Many of the images were first used in primary states, but they haven’t been seen here.
The TV ad places in a larger picture that radio ad that Obama has just cut for U.S. Rep. John Barrow. Here’s the audio on it, just released.
In the radio ad, this is the active line from Obama: “We’re going to need John Barrow back in Congress to help change Washington and get our country back on track. He’s already standing up to the lobbyists and the Republicans who go right down the line with George Bush.”
Go to the jump for the entire radio script.
OBAMA: “This is Barack Obama, and I want to ask you to join me in supporting Congressman John Barrow for re-election in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, July 15th.
“We’re going to need John Barrow back in Congress to help change Washington and get our country back on track. He’s already standing up to the lobbyists and the Republicans who go right down the line with George Bush.
“Now we need him in Congress to help reduce gasoline prices, provide access to affordable health care for every American, and create good paying jobs here in Georgia and all across our country.
“Together, we can get that done, because John is not afraid to take a tough stand to do what’s right. Again, I’m Barack Obama and I urge you to vote for John Barrow on Tuesday, July 15th. “
BARROW: “I’m Congressman John Barrow, running for re-election, and I approved this message. Announcer: Paid for by Friends of John Barrow.”
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Pay no attention to that $1.2 billion deficit behind the curtain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re told not to worry, but state auditors have uncovered a deficit at the state Department of Transportation that stood at $839 million as of March 31, and could reach $1.2 billion by the end of this month.
State officials say they think — though this is not a promise — that it will take no more than a little shuffling of money from one checking account to another to fix things.
But my colleague Ariel Hart sensed some tension in the room.
John Thornton, a division director for the state Department of Audits, said he believed “there was a miscalculation of how much money” the department had on hand.
DOT board member Steve Farrow asked why these problems had not been found previous audits. Thornton, who has been with the auditing department for 29 years and has audited DOT before, said that he did not know whether the current system of looking at the DOT books had been used before.
When board member Robert Brown repeated that these problems were longstanding at the DOT, Thornton mentioned Fast Forward, which had been Sonny Perdue’s top-shelf transportation program — until the governor recently discovered that only 20 percent of the projects contained in the program had been completed.
“During Fast Forward, when you try to do in six years what would normally take place in 18 year, you are changing the dynamics of your operation. So it can put stress and pressure in areas that may not have been there in prior years,” Thorton said.
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In Savannah, the fallout from Obama’s choice of Barrow rather than Thomas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In today’s Savannah Morning News, political columnist and reporter Larry Peterson has already picked up on some hard feelings generated by Barack Obama’s endorsement of U.S. Rep. John Barrow over his Democratic primary challenger, Regina Thomas.
Peterson notes that Barrow, a conservative Democrat, differs with the presumptive presidential nominee on heavy topics such as the war in Iraq and President Bush’s tax cuts.
But Peterson also mentions one of the vagaries of campaigning in the Democratic primary: Barrow, who is white and eager to do well among African-American voters, endorsed Obama early — in late February, just as the crucial contest for superdelegates began.
Thomas, who is black and presumably needed to cultivate an image as a crossover candidate who can attract white voters, didn’t endorse Obama until he’d very nearly locked up the nomination.
Wrote Peterson:
Mary Osborne, who was Obama’s Chatham County coordinator in Georgia’s Feb. 5 Democratic presidential primary, said she is disappointed.
Osborne, a Savannah alderman, said Obama might not be familiar with Barrow’s voting record.
Kevin Clark, another local Obama supporter and a leader in the gay rights community, said he was “sorely, sorely disappointed.”
Clark said Barrow failed to stand behind the pro-gay-rights positions he took in his 2004 Democratic primary campaign.
Osborne and others suggested the endorsement was a reward for Barrow’s support of Obama for president….
“I’m sure there’s a matter of trade-offs,” Osborne said. “That’s how things are done in politics.”
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