Reality check: Obama touts Ill. Senate feats, hard work in his latest TV ad

By Raj Chohan, CBS4

Published July 5, 2008 at 12:15 a.m.

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In his new ad, Barack Obama touts his accomplishments in the Illinois Senate.

The new ad by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is called "Dignity." In this ad, Obama touts his legislative accomplishments in the Illinois Senate.

Ad: He worked his way through college and Harvard Law, turned down big-money offers and helped lift neighborhoods stung by job loss.

The claims are true. Like a lot of students, Barack Obama took some part-time jobs during college, and with degrees from Columbia and Harvard, he certainly could have had his choice of big-money offers.

While he did do some corporate work after Columbia, that job lasted about a year before he went into public interest work. After Harvard Law School, Obama went to Chicago to lead an inner-city voter registration drive. Then he went to work for a law firm and taught part time at the University of Chicago law school.

Ad: (He) fought for worker's rights. He passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by 80 percent.

The claim is true. As an Illinois senator, he did sponsor a welfare-reform bill. He was a key player but not the only player.

Ad: (He) passed tax cuts for workers, health care for kids.

This claim is also true. Again in the Illinois senate, Obama co-sponsored a tax cut and a measure that expanded the number of children eligible for low-income health insurance.

Ad: As president, he'll end tax breaks for companies that export jobs, reward those that create jobs in America and never forget the dignity that comes from work.

Bottom line, Obama is still looking for inroads with working-class white Democrats. Themes like hard work and getting people off of the public dole likely resonate with that group. Curiously, the only legislative accomplishments Obama talks about are those from his days in the Illinois Senate. Yet he's been in the U.S Senate for three years.

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