We knew this push was coming, and now the ads are up and running in nine swing states. Virtually all of the ads are built around the passage in Mitt Romney's acceptance speech when he preemptively answered the "are we better off?" question many voters are asking themselves. Team Obama fumbled this basic question last weekend before finally settling on their final spin. Embedding all 17 different clips is probably overkill, so here is a cross-section of the new spots, each of which is tailored to individual states. A Virginia ad on energy policy:
A Wisconsin ad on deficits:
An Ohio ad on manufacturing, a sector that sustained another blow in Friday's August jobs report gut-punch:
A Colorado ad on burdensome federal regulations:
Finally, a non-state-specific Spanish language ad targeting Latino voters. It stars a litany of Hispanic citizens explaining why they won't be supporting Obama in November ("promises, promises, and nothing"):
These spots are live in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Some critics will gripe that while Romney's "plans" sound pleasant enough, they're impossibly vague. But 30 second contrast ads aren't typically the venue for in-depth policy. The goal here is to convey a broader message: President Obama hasn't made things better, he's out of ideas, and Mitt Romney is prepared to improve Americans' lives.