Crossroads knocks Obama in coal states with new radio ad

by Josh Lederman - 04/13/12 1:24 PM ET

A conservative super-PAC will spend $175,000 on radio ads to knock President Obama on coal regulations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The ad by American Crossroads, a Republican-aligned group founded by Karl Rove, uses clips from a news interview with Cecil Roberts, the president of the United Mine Workers of America, disparaging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

{mosads}“The Navy SEALs shot Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and [EPA Administrator] Lisa Jackson shot us in Washington,” Roberts says in the ad.

Roberts says he agrees with the interviewer that without Obama’s approval, there wouldn’t be the EPA regulations he said were crushing his industry.

“This is a job killer for us,” he says.

A Crossroads spokesman said the ad will start airing Friday. Although it tells listeners to “say no to the Obama administration’s extreme EPA rules,” it doesn’t explicitly say whether to vote for or against him.

Crossroads and a few related groups have assumed primary responsibility for mounting the early air war against Obama and Democrats, while the Republican Party and its likely nominee are still wrapping up the primary and raising funds for the fall.

The group announced Tuesday that it would spend $1.7 million in six key swing states to air television ads slamming Obama’s energy policies.