Barack Obama today unveiled a new TV ad in Iowa, starring a local man whose company cut his pension benefits and left him "high and dry". Obama's point is he'll protect retired workers from companies who seek to shed their pension obligations in bankruptcy court. The ad cuts to a central theme of Obama's candidacy: he'll fight for ordinary Americans left behind by Bush administration economic policies.
On his swing through south-east Iowa this week, Obama has railed against the culture in Washington under the Bush administration in which, he says, the interests of ordinary Americans are ignored because special interests spend millions lobbying congress and cosying up to the Whitte House. Obama's favorite targets: pharmaceutical and energy companies, and CEOs who cut retired workers' pension benefits.
Although his rhetoric constantly reminds Iowa voters how badly they've fared recently, to me Obama doesn't come across as a demagogue because he doesn't seem intent on stirring up anger or fear. Instead, his message aims at optimism - if he's elected he'll turn it all around. But I can't help wonder, if he wins the nomination, will his Republican opponent seek to charge him with "class warfare" as Republicans did against John Edwards in 2004?
