Obama allies to launch ad hailing stimulus bill


Greg Sargent
The Plumline

President Obama’s allies on the left — AFSCME and the labor-backed Americans United for Change — will launch a TV ad today praising Obama’s stimulus package only hours after the President signs it today.

The ad will utilize footage from today’s signing ceremonyto promote the bill and hail its benefits, according to Americans United for Change chief Brad Woodhouse. Obama is set to sign the bill this afternoon in Denver.

The key here is that the political war over the stimulus package hasn’t ended with its passage. If anything, the battle is only beginning. In the weeks and months ahead, Obama and Dems will be working to solidify public perceptions that the bill is righting the economy. Meanwhile, Republicans, having placed all their chips on the expectation that the public will perceive the stim package as a failure, will be striving to cast it assuch.

On a second front, the passage of the stim bill serves for liberals and Dems as a kind of a starting gun for the next round of big policy fights. Liberal groups and labor will be working to keep the public’s appetite for ambitious governmental initiatives from flagging — hence today’s ad — while Republicans will try to use the massive cost of the stim bill to rally the public against big future expenditures.

Progressives’ ability to succeed in the long term is directly linked to the work we do today to build the infrastructure in the states.

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