Crossroads GPS launches $20 million ad campaign

Crossroads GPS, a conservative-aligned outside organization, is pledging to spend $20 million over the next two months on ads aimed at shaping the national debate on jobs, the economy and the federal debt.

“President Obama may have inherited a recession, but his policies have made things worse for everyday Americans by running up the debt and causing economic uncertainty,” said Steve Law, president of Crossroads GPS.

The first wave of ads will begin airing Monday with a $5 million buy that will include national cable television as well as broadcast stations in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Virginia. The initial flight of ads will run for two weeks.

The ad, entitled “Shovel Ready”, takes President Obama to task over the economy.

It details the rise of unemployment, gas prices and the national debt under Obama and argues that the economic stimulus package “failed”.

“It’s time to take away Obama’s blank check,” says the ad’s narrator.

Crossroads GPS is a 501(c)(4) organization, meaning that it does not need to disclose its donors and can collect unlimited sums but can only run issue-based ads.

Its affiliate arm, American Crossroads, is set up as a so-called “super PAC” meaning that it can accept unlimited contributions but must disclose those donations through the Federal Election Commission.

During the 2010 election, the two-headed Crossroads organization, which has the backing of major GOP heavy hitters including former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie and Mike Duncan, raised and spent tens of millions on ads in House and Senate races.

The group has pledged to raise and spend $120 million on the 2012 election.

The success of Crossroads during the 2010 midterms led to the creation of a group of Democratic-aligned independent expenditure groups led by Priorities USA. Priorities USA is run by Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney, two former aides in the Obama White House.

“Whether it’s by running millions of dollars in negative ads about the economy or by walking away from critical economic talks in Congress, Washington Republicans are demonstrating an unwavering commitment to stopping any real progress on the economy,” Burton said of the Crossroads ad buy.