Obama Launches First General Election Ad in New Mexico, 17 Other States

The ad, called "Country I Love," will start airing tomorrow in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia -- all considered battleground states this year. And yes, Obama's campaign apparently views Alaska as competitive.

The ad covers Obama's unique rise from child of a single mom to presidential candidate and stresses his love of America and American values. I think it serves as a strong rebuttal to attempts by the GOP to smear him as unpatriotic and out of the mainstream.

To see how Obama's doing, check out Chris Bowers' post on Open Left based on polling analysis that forecasts Obama with 272 Electoral College votes to McCain's 218, with 48 a toss-up at this point. And recent polling by Quinnipiac has Obama ahead in three important battleground states:

Obama is also doing well in two other tightly contested states, although Michigan may be tougher than anticipated for Barack. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal:

Recent statewide polls in Virginia and Wisconsin also offer good signs for Sen. Obama. Public Policy Polling results for Virginia showed the state split nearly evenly, with Sen. Obama carrying 47% of voters to Sen. McCain's 45%. A close race in Virginia is good news for Sen. Obama because the state hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. Sen. Obama made Virginia his first stop after Sen. Clinton conceded the nomination.

In Wisconsin, a SurveyUSA poll gave Sen. Obama a 52%-43% lead, although Sen. McCain was again slightly ahead among men.

The one significant red flag for Sen. Obama in recent state polling comes from Michigan. There, a Rasmussen survey taken last week showed Sen. Obama leading by just 45% to 42%, a tight race for a state plagued by a downtrodden economy that many thought would benefit Democrats this year. Other recent polls have shown Sen. McCain leading.

Here's the text transcript of Obama's new ad:

SCRIPT – "Country I Love"

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.

Barack Obama is a True Blue New Mexico candidate. Please give what you can. Every dollar helps.

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