Black Republicans launch anti-Obama campaign

A group of black Republicans has created new advertisements that take direct aim at the Democratic Party and at first black nominee for president, Barack Obama.

The National Black Republican Association released three new ads recently that accuse the Democratic Party of being "racist" and invoke some of the most unpleasant racial controversies from the contentious 2008 Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Although the ads do take on the Democratic Party, most of the criticism is squarely focused on Obama. One ad calls him "an arrogant elitist millionaire" and says "Obama does not have the character or judgment to be our president." Another ad accuses Obama of being "an arrogant elitist who turns his back on poor blacks and his own country." The ad says Obama voted against "the minimum wage bill" and against "school choice for poor black kids."

The Obama campaign's web site says the candidate will "increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation to ensure it rises every year." As for "school choice," Obama's campaign issued a statement in February that the Illinois senator "has always been a critic of vouchers." According to the statement, "Throughout his career, he has voted against voucher proposals and voiced concern for siphoning off resources from our public schools."

It is not clear if the ads will ever air or if they were ever supposed to air, but the ads all end with the disclaimer that they are not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

A press release from the group that was obtained by the Huffington Post said the ads will air on radio stations in battleground states. "But what kind of affect they'll have (or seriousness with which they'll be regarded) is in serious doubt," according to Huffington Post columnist Sam Stein.

"For starters, the NBRA is targeting African Americans -- a constituency deeply committed to Obama -- with hopes of getting 25 percent of the black vote. That, objectively, would be a minor miracle for the GOP, which is staring at massive losses among the constituency. Secondly, there is no word yet as to the extent of the group's ad buy, and calls to find out went unreturned," Stein reported.

The ad campaign comes just as black Republicans are being noticed by the media. An article in US News & World Report last week indicated that some black Republicans are "torn" about voting for Obama or McCain. And an op-ed piece published in The Daily Voice last month featured a black Republican who suggested that other black Republicans might go vote for Obama as well.

But the black Republican group continues to make its case. The organization's web site features a photo of a billboard sign it says was put up just off of exit 145 of I-26 in Orangeburg, South Carolina and appeals for donors to contribute to the billboard campaign. The billboard includes the words "Martin Luther King Jr. Was a Republican" along with a photo of Dr. King.

The National Black Republican Association is based in Sarasota, Florida, according to its web site.

See the ads below...