by John McCormick
Sen. Barack Obama is using an image of his deceased mother in a new campaign ad that seeks to make the case that he is the best qualified to bring change in the way the nation delivers health care.
Called "Mother," the 30-second ad briefly shows a picture of Stanley Ann Dunham, who died of cancer in 1995. The image includes a very young Obama in her arms.
The ad is scheduled to start running in Iowa on Friday. It arrives during a week where Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York has received extensive news coverage for the unveiling of her health care proposal.
Within the ad, Obama promises a health care plan that will “cover everyone.” That’s a suggest that draws fire from his opponents, who claim the plan he offered in May falls short of offering true universal coverage.
Unlike the plans offered by Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Obama’s plan stops short of mandating that all Americans be required to have insurance. Obama’s campaign maintains that by making the system more affordable, it would mean that more people would buy into the program, thus moving the country closer to universal coverage.
The new Obama ad is the second one his campaign has launched in Iowa this week. Like the first one, the Illinois Democrat speaks directly into the camera as he argues that he is a Washington outsider.
"To fix health care, we have to fix Washington," he says at the end of the ad.
It's an anecdote Obama has been recently field testing on the campaign trail. This is how he told the story of his mother's illness during a recent campaign stop in Santa Barbara, Calif.
"I remember my mother. She was 53 years old when she died of ovarian cancer, and you know what she was thinking about in the last months of her life? She wasn’t thinking about getting well. She wasn't thinking about coming to terms with her own mortality. She had been diagnosed just as she was transitioning between jobs. And she wasn’t sure whether insurance was going to cover the medical expenses because they might consider this a preexisting condition. I remember just being heartbroken, seeing her struggle through the paperwork and the medical bills and the insurance forms. So, I have seen what it's like when somebody you love is suffering because of a broken health care system. And it's wrong. It's not who we are as a people."
The ad can be viewed here.





Comments
Good add.
Posted by: nisleib | September 20, 2007 4:25 PM
Is there an Obama press release, ad (not "add", BTW), boring quip, or belch that Swampune reporter John McCormick doesn't pass along to Swamp readers?
Posted by: Bruce | September 20, 2007 4:30 PM
I like Senator Obama and I think he will make for a fine President, Vice-President or Cabinet member in 08.
Posted by: Leo T | September 20, 2007 4:32 PM
How about at least embedding video of the ad in the swamp mention?
Posted by: Anonymous | September 20, 2007 4:43 PM
Touching, but off point. What Obama, and most of the others, fail to address is whether the Federal government should even be in the business of health care. Ron Paul suggests that such a bloated bureaucracy will mean less care, longer wait times and restricted services. I believe him. By making health care an option and letting the several states take up the slack, the system might possibly work. Despite the touching story, Obama needs to re-think this issue. It won't work.
Posted by: zenpiper | September 20, 2007 4:50 PM
Unmentioned in the Obama-for-president Swamp: the new Harris Poll of likely Dem voters, perhaps because Clinton leads St. Barack 46% to 25%, with Edwards at 14% and no other Dem in double digits.
For the full story, see http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/09/20/pres_poll.html
On the GOP side, newcomer Fred Thompson has pulled even with long-time frontrunner Rudy Giuliani.
Just providing the polling info the Swamp used to provide when the polls were more favorable to St. Barack.
Posted by: Bruce | September 20, 2007 5:01 PM
Is there an Obama press release, ad (not "add", BTW), boring quip, or belch that Swampune reporter John McCormick doesn't pass along to Swamp readers?
Posted by: Bruce | September 20, 2007 4:30 PM
Unmentioned in the Obama-for-president Swamp: the new Harris Poll of likely Dem voters, perhaps because Clinton leads St. Barack 46% to 25%, with Edwards at 14% and no other Dem in double digits.
For the full story, see http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/09/20/pres_poll.html
On the GOP side, newcomer Fred Thompson has pulled even with long-time frontrunner Rudy Giuliani.
Just providing the polling info the Swamp used to provide when the polls were more favorable to St. Barack.
Posted by: Bruce | September 20, 2007 5:01 PM
Bruce, is there an ounce of your now barely latent hatred for Obama you don't pass on to Swamp readers? And you call others boring? What are your views on healthcare?
Posted by: kb | September 20, 2007 5:39 PM
I applaud him, All Cancer patients should applaud him. It's time we come to terms with cancer, We have to have a cure. We have to have.
Imclone does! Now that Martha is out of the picture, maybe the FDA will and the Pharmaceutical powers that be allow that cure they had prior to her sudden SEC violation come to form.
Hey I like a conspiracy here and there myself. But what if the Great Dr. of Penicilian was correct! We did it, Martha, we did it. That's what the archives say!
Posted by: Roger Morris | September 20, 2007 7:24 PM
Maybe Barack should have his father in an ad someday,you know,his Muslim father,the one that gave him the name (Hussein)
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | September 20, 2007 7:58 PM
Unfortunately for Obamna, most voters aren't stupid enough to buy the "outsider" nonsense.
The fact that he's resurrecting his dead mother shows how desperate he is.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 20, 2007 9:05 PM
How can that be HIS mother?
Posted by: Todd | September 21, 2007 5:56 AM
More racist musings from slumlord scum Paulo.
Posted by: janet | September 21, 2007 11:13 AM
This is a man that truly cares what path this nation is taking. We need to listen to him. Health care in this country is becoming a total mess and a big failure for low in-come earners and the poor and not to mention our seniors.
If as a child Obama went through all these, imagine what millions of kids and families are going through at present?
Obama has a genuine health care plan and he honestly cares for our seniors, the poor and low income earners.
God bless America! And if we end up voting in the wrong person to the oval office, then we are back to our old political lies and washington garbage.
If we want some changes, we have to make a move. if we keep having things from the past, then the future will be recessive. Obama for a clean change!
Posted by: Julie | September 21, 2007 11:15 AM
Has there ever been a Swamp post about Barack Obama that Bruce DOESN'T whine about?
Time for you to start acting more mature, Bruce.
Posted by: BC | September 21, 2007 12:58 PM
Obama promises a health care plan that will “cover everyone.” I appreciate him.
Posted by: joann | September 22, 2007 1:28 AM
Obama, you have given me new hope.
Posted by: Pat McCollough | January 4, 2008 7:17 PM
What wrong with Obama showing his mother, rather she is white or black, that is his mother even if she died 50 years ago, your mother is your mother, Obama I love and I pray you will be the next president of the USA, I am in canada so I can not vote for you, all I can do is pray for you that God will direct your path way..God Bless you and your team just becareful because they are waiting for you or your team to says the wrong thing, so just becarefu..shalom
Posted by: Yvonne | February 1, 2008 7:46 PM
is obama's mother white ? if so, why is he black and not mixed race ? was or is his father a u.s. citizen and where does he live ? they say that he would be the first black president. this does not make sense to me.
Posted by: john dreher | February 4, 2008 12:09 PM
Ok I will go slow. First, yes his mother is Caucasian and his (Bio)Father is African. Its called genetics the fathers genes are dominate so the child comes out with dark skin. His fathers name is Barack Hussein Obama his Mother's Africa name is (hold on get ready for this)Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama. So Sr. got Hussein from his mother and Jr. got it from his daddy. His caucassian mother 's name is Stanley Ann Dunham because her father wanted a boy. It gets better he has a half sister who has white skin because his mother remarried to Lolo Soetoro a Hawaiian.
Sen. Obama was born in Hawaii he saw his bio father once (pictured at the Honolulu Airport). His mother and stepfather moved to Jakarta and sent to the alleged muslim school not true most of the schools at that time 1970 were and still are run by the British. But are closing due to a rise by Al Qaeda who wants to destroy all Western interest wonder who caused that.
So his Hawaiian step father took him back to Hawaii and enrolled him two years at Catholic schools but don't worry he's a protestant. Although his mother did read the " 'The Communist Manifesto,' by Karl Marx right here in Kansas USA in the 1950s you know white socks and poodle skirt happy days times. While growing up in Hawaii Barry Obama changed his name to honor his father to Barack Hussein Obama Jr.( Not like Cassius Clay to Muhammed Ali who was Mulsim).
His African father, (get this) was a Atheist now remember back then the 1960s Black people and White people could not be legally married in the United States. Laws banning "race-mixing" were enforced in Nazi Germany, in South Africa during the Apartheid era and in individual U.S. states from the Colonial era until 1967 it was against Federal Law. Now his paternal grandmother is alive and living right now in war torn Kenya.
You can check it out for yourself at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0703270151mar27,0,5157609.story?page=3
"Remember knowing is half the battle." G. I. Joe
Posted by: kabradley | February 6, 2008 7:06 PM
And who gave you YOUR name, Paulo? Do you even understand english or should I hablo en espanol????
Posted by: April DiFalco | February 13, 2008 12:17 AM
I am for Hackabey because I always vote for conservative. I voted for President Bush both time as well. However, your comment above will not turn voters from voting for Obama. I will note vote for him nor for Hillary Clinton because I vote for what I believe not for the color of the candidate. I am Black
Posted by: Hagos | February 17, 2008 11:37 AM
Great add if you beleive it. His mother was not a shinning example of motherhood. It is a shame there are not immediate family members left to tell exactly what his mother preached to him. She was describe as an atheist, communist, married to a muslim twice. The press and the media can't stop talking about the negative of Hillary. It's time to start exposing Obama and his do nothing record since he became a senator. An empty box holds nothing.
Posted by: Jeanette Johnson | February 20, 2008 6:19 PM
During the first (8) eight years of his elected service Obama sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced:
-233 regarding healthcare reform,
-125 on poverty and public assistance,
-112 crime fighting bills,
-97 economic bills,
-60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
-21 ethics reform bills,
-15 gun control,
-6 veterans affairs and many others.
His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included **the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law, **The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law, **The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate, **The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, - became law, **The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee, and many more.
In all, since entering the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096.
Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term (6-years) and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law (20) twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years. The majority of these involved naming or renaming city structures like courthouses.
Posted by: Annette | March 3, 2008 11:54 PM
What is Barak's contribution to his mother's medical assistense. Did he really give her any support during her hard times ?? if not he has no ethical right to use her for the ad compaign
Posted by: bob miller | March 13, 2008 11:10 PM
To John Dreyer, the guy who said "is obama's mother white ? if so, why is he black and not mixed race ?"
You bring up an interesting point. Obama is continually touted as a "black" guy and not a mixed race guy. Unfortunately in the US you can be 75% white and a quarter black but your black blood makes you black for some odd reason. Forget about being raised in a white people in a white neighborhoods. The funny thing is Obama never mentioned his race until the media started calling him a "black candidate." It goes to show you that the one-drop rule and other vestiges from Americas past are alive and thriving. We still have these stupid labels that make no sense.
Posted by: OneDropRule | March 24, 2008 2:11 AM
Uhuh sure she did... It not like he himself didn't have enough money to help his mother with her medical bills. XD dont kid yourself Obama. Why don't you talk more about how your mother was smart enough to see that race is of unimportance and thats how you are...?
If only you were like that then I would support you Barack Obama
Posted by: Laurel0Lover | March 31, 2008 8:54 PM
from anonymous:
"Unfortunately for Obama, most voters aren't stupid enough to buy the "outsider" nonsense.
The fact that he's resurrecting his dead mother shows how desperate he is."
For real - this idiot thinks he can make curing people of cancer cheaper by changing Washington? It's insulting it's so idiotic. If you want cheaper health care then guess what, the standard of care is going to be reduced. You only ever get what you pay for and anyone who tries to tell you differently is a liar or too stupid to know how full of crap they are.
Posted by: mshook12 | April 25, 2008 12:39 AM
According to the Wikipedia "In 1994 Ann Dunham was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and uterine cancer; She died in 1995 at the age of 52.[13][14] Her son, starting his first campaign for public office, was not present at the time of her death."
It is ironic that he could not spare the time to be with his mother as she died but can use her death for his campaign now. I find that rather cold.
Posted by: Syndi Holmes | April 27, 2008 8:58 AM
Now he wants to admit who his family is??? I cant believe the history that I have read on him today. I am soooo disappointed. What is the truth??? How can he hide all these things and the press not jump on it??? No one else could do that. This is unsettling and weird.
Posted by: Angel Price | August 25, 2008 1:01 PM