Adwatch: Clinton Ad Cites Ohio Economy

March 3, 2008

TITLE: "Partner"

LENGTH: 30 seconds

AIRING: Ohio

SCRIPT: Clinton: "I have talked with people from Cincinnati to Dayton to Parma."

Man 1: "The economy in this part of the state is terrible."

Man 2: "We need a leader who cares about the people."

Clinton: "It's time that the American worker had a partner in the White House."

Woman 1: "She's going to bring jobs back here to Ohio."

Man 3: "And fight for working families here in the United States of America."

Man 1: "Hillary Clinton can turn this country around."

Clinton: "The wealthy and the well-connected have had a president. It's time the middle class had a president, who will stand up for you."

Clinton: "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approved this message."

KEY IMAGES: Clinton addresses a crowd in Ohio with the U.S. flag as a backdrop. Three men and a woman, speaking separately in outdoor locales, praise her candidacy. Clips of Clinton shaking hands with supporters appear as she speaks.

ANALYSIS: The economy is a top issue in Ohio, a state hit by unemployment, plant closings and the home mortgage crisis. Both Clinton and Obama have pledged to turn their attention to creating jobs. But Clinton and Obama have been feuding over who would do more to alter trade deals to benefit U.S. workers. Both campaigns have cited instances where each candidate has voiced some support for trade deals, though both now say they would like to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards.

The ad comes as Obama has been put on the defensive by reports that one of his advisers told Canadian officials that Obama's objections to NAFTA were "political positioning." On Monday, Obama said his campaign never gave Canada such an impression, despite the disclosure of a Canadian memo, obtained by The Associated Press, indicating otherwise. The Obama adviser, Austan Goolsbee, said his comments to Canadian officials were misinterpreted by the author of the memo.

Ohio and Texas, which hold their contests Tuesday, are crucial to Clinton's hopes of staying in the race for the Democratic nomination. Clinton is counting on working-class voters, who have voted heavily for her in previous contests for the presidential nomination. But that support could be undercut by Obama's recent endorsements by large unions, including the Teamsters and the 1.9 million-member Service Employees International Union. Clinton has the endorsements of a larger number of unions, however.

Analysis by Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn