FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 2, 2008
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Brad Martin: 406.750.3457 (cell)
Denver, CO – With just days left before the
election, Progressive Future launched on national news outlets an ad
focused on the recent economic challenges facing middle America.
The ad weds images of ordinary Americans struggling through troubled
times to singer Paul Simon's empathetic lyrics of "American
Tune": "I don't know a soul who's not been battered/I don't have
a friend who feels at ease/I don't know a dream that's not been
shattered/or driven to its knees." The ad concludes with an image
of Senator McCain, his arm draped around President Bush, as viewers
hear the lyrics, "Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on/I
can’t help it/I wonder what’s gone wrong."
"This ad zeroes in on the challenges we're facing as a country and the
choice we have on Tuesday," said Brad Martin, Progressive Future
Political Director. "From record foreclosures, to high
unemployment, to millions without health care, this country needs to
move in a different direction."
Martin cited recent statistics that document the economic ordeals
highlighted in the ad. According to RealtyTrac® numbers from
October 2008, home foreclosures have increased 21 percent from
September 2007; one in every 475 U.S. housing units received a
foreclosure filing in September 2008. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
unemployment numbers stayed at over six percent, or nearly 10 million,
unemployed in September. The National Coalition on Health Care
reports 47 million Americans are without healthcare
insurance.
"This song was written over thirty years ago, when people were hurting
because of a different set of problems. Well, we're hurting again
today," added Martin. "It's time to make a change."
Progressive Future is running the ad on national network programs on
CNN and MSNBC this weekend. Viewers can also access the ad at http://www.progressivefuture.org/american-tune
The production is the second pro-Obama ad sponsored by Progressive
Future. In the first ad, released on Wednesday, the group makes the
case for Obama using footage of Ronald Reagan from his one and only
debate against Jimmy Carter, where Reagan asked if Americans were
"better off" than they were four years ago. The ad can be seen at
www.betteroff08.com.
In addition to sponsoring the "American Tune" and the "Better Off" ads,
Progressive Future is conducting a grassroots program to elect Barack
Obama. The group has organized efforts to persuade undecided
voters through face-to-face contacts at the door in critical
battleground states. In the final 96 hours of the election, the group
is mobilizing its members and activists to conduct a get-out-the-vote
drive.