Obama plans aggressive Super Tuesday ad campaign

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign on Tuesday outlined an aggressive ad campaign for the days leading up to Super Tuesday, including going on the air on chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) home turf.

David Plouffe, the senator’s campaign manager, said in a conference call that the campaign will have radio or TV spots up in 21 of the 22 states by Wednesday, including broadcast TV spots in the expensive New York City and Philadelphia markets.

{mosads}Illinois, Obama’s home state, is the only Feb. 5 state where he will not be on the air Wednesday, but the campaign is planning to run cable spots there before Super Tuesday.

The ads and the support of elected officials from Feb. 5 states, including Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), will help introduce Obama to voters, something that the campaign must do to beat Clinton, Plouffe said. He added that Clinton’s lead in polls there partly reflects the fact that voters are familiar with the former first lady.

“We have to do all we can to make sure they know about him, his accomplishments and his values,” Plouffe said.

Obama’s campaign is putting its financial heft to work in the post-retail phase of the primary season, where expensive media markets can fully tax a campaign. Since Obama won in South Carolina Saturday, he has raised more than $5 million, the campaign said.