Mean for You

Politico EXCLUSIVE: A new coalition this morning is launching $12 million in TV ads to support President Obama's health-reform plan, in the opening wave of a planned tens of millions of dollars this fall. The new group, funded largely by PhRMA, is called Americans for Stable Quality Care. It includes some odd bedfellows: the American Medical Association, FamiliesUSA, the Federation of American Hospitals, PhRMA and SEIU. The ads start airing at about 11 a.m. The group is likely to be the biggest spender in support of health reform. The campaign will serve as a counterweight to the critics at town meetings, which are getting saturation news coverage while Congress is out of town.

The group's campaign is likely to mean that White House supporters keep the upper hand on the airwaves. PhRMA's participation is key, because the group has promised to kick in as much as $150 million for advertising and grassroots activity to help pass the president's plan. But the new group could provoke complaints from the left. The debut ad is mean to shore up support among the conservative House Blue Dog Democrats, and to target swing senators. So it's airing in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota and Virginia. The first buy is expected to run for two weeks, with a weekly spend of around $3 million.

The first ad is called, 'Mean for You,' as in, 'What Reforms Means for You.' The 30-second script, with a soothing male narrator: 'What DOES health insurance reform mean for you?

Just bear in mind the operative words: MEAN FOR YOU





© Janet Crain

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