President Obama’s campaign arm, Organizing for America, has begun running television ads stressing the need for a health care system overhaul across the country, just as the reform debate on Capitol Hill reaches a crucial turning point. The ads will run on national cable channels, and locally in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and Washington, D.C.
Though the ads don’t name any politicians, it’s pretty clear from the placement that they’re directed at conservative Democratic and moderate Republican congressmen and senators.
The ads come as the White House has begun to acknowledge that Congress–and particularly the Senate–is well behind schedule if it’s to prepare a bill for the President’s signature by mid-October. As for Obama himself, in the last two days, he’s jumped into the legislative back and forth like at no other time since the push for health care reform began this spring. Since returning from a trip to Europe and Africa, he’s met with Democratic leaders, and Blue dogs, and has urged key members of Congress to pick up the pace as August recess approaches.
