The 2012 Presidential race will be fought increasingly on what President Obama has called the internets, or what the late Senator from Alaska Ted Stevens referred to as the "series of tubes." With that in mind, today conservative advocacy group Compass Colorado launched an online ad blitz hitting President Obama seeking to educate Coloradans on his downright depressing economic track record, on both federal spending and unemployment.
The ad refers to Ronald Reagan's famous formulation in 1980 asking the American voters if they were better off after four years of Jimmy Carter. President Obama infamously answered that question about his presidency in an interview with former Bill Clinton political hack George Stephanopolous in October, acknowledging that Americans are "not better off" since he took office.
As we said then, that answer is going to haunt Obama throughout this entire election.
“President Obama has pursued policies that have devastated Colorado’s economy,” said Tyler Q. Houlton, President of Compass Colorado. “Skyrocketing unemployment, home foreclosures, trillion dollar deficits, and reckless spending have defined Obama’s term in office.”
Clicking the web ad brings you Compass Colorado's homepage, where Obama's abysmal economic record is laid out for all to see.
And it's ugly.
As Romney campaign spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom pointed out recently, Obama is on track to be the only President in American history to see a net loss of jobs over his four years.
Compass Colorado points to three figures that figure to loom large in Colorado in the general election:
UNEMPLOYMENT AND JOBS
- America’s unemployment rate has been over 8 percent for 35 consecutive months (1600 Fund)
- Colorado’s unemployment rate has been over 8 percent for 32 consecutive months (BLS.GOV)
- 17 counties in Colorado have an unemployment rate of 19.5% or higher (Colorado Peak Politics)
Yup, you read that right. We at the Peak are the only outlet in the state to report on the massive unemployment in 17 Colorado counties.
Newspaper and news editors across the Centennial State apparently haven't felt the need to inform their readers and viewers of that essential piece of economic information.
But thanks to the rise of the right in online media, Coloradans won't be deprived entirely. Bloggers like us will dutifully report on it, and groups like Compass Colorado are increasingly bringing that information directly to the digital doorsteps of the state's citizens.