A new ad from President Obama confronts head on one of the most potentially damaging questions lingering over his re-election hopes: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
Recent polls have shown that more Americans feel that they are not better off. But Mr. Obama is telling them that they are.
“Here's where we were in 2008,†an announcer says in the ad, which is running in seven battleground states, including some of the hardest hit by the recession, like Nevada and Florida.
“The worst financial collapse since the Great Depression,†a newscaster says. On the screen flashes “4.4 million jobs lost.â€
The ad then pivots to 2012 to make the argument that has been a t the heart of Mr. Obama's case for re-election: that the country is moving in the right direction, albeit slowly. “We're not there yet, but the real question is, ‘Whose plan is better for you?'â€
Mr. Obama has been arguing not just that his plan to economic prosperity is moving in the right direction â€" forward, as his campaign slogan says â€" but that Mitt Romney's policies would take the country back.
This ad doubles down on that argument, pointing to Mr. Obama's plans to ask the wealthy to pay higher taxes and Mr. Romney's support for less business regulation. The ad also raises again a claim made in a study that Mr. Romney's campaign has disputed, saying that his tax plan would actually raise taxes on middle class families by $2,000.
