You're seeing it here first folks, at long last, Obama's first ad of the general election. It is entitled, "The Country I Love," and is an autobiographical piece designed to introduce Barack to a larger audience:
Strikes me as exactly the right tone to start with. Patriotic, faithful, and an intro to who he is (notice the Kansas plug). Here's the best part: where it's going to be run...wait for it...
Via The Page:
Will begin airing Friday in 18 states, including Republican-leaning Georgia, North Carolina, Alaska.
No word yet on the size of the buy, but my guess is it's going to be sizable. Stay tuned, I'll update with more info.
UPDATE:
Via Ambinder:
The ad will air in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia, per the campaign.
Ambinder estimates the buy at around $3 million.
What states are missing? Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, and New Jersey. Seems like Obama's feeling confident about those. NOTE: I'm glad he's airing this in Indiana, I honestly feel like that state could become enough of a battleground to force McCain to spend resources there.
SCRIPT for those without video (thx kubla000)
"OBAMA: I’m Barack Obama. America is a country of strong families and strong values. My life’s been blessed by both. I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn’t have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you’d like to be treated. It’s what guided me as I worked my way up – taking jobs and loans to make it through college. It’s what led me to pass up Wall Street jobs and go to Chicago instead, helping neighborhoods devastated when steel plants closed. That’s why I passed laws moving people from welfare to work, cut taxes for working families and extended health care for wounded troops who’d been neglected. I approved this message because I’ll never forget those values, and if I have the honor of taking the oath of office as President, it will be with a deep and abiding faith in the country I love."
CONTRIBUTE TO OBAMA (it's money well spent, as we can see)