Jackson Jr. makes radio ad for Obama
COLUMBIA, S.C. — White House hopeful Barack Obama planned to launch a new radio ad Tuesday in South Carolina featuring the son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.
In the one-minute ad, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. recalls 1988, when his father won South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary.
‘‘Once, South Carolina voted for my father and sent a strong message to the nation,’’ the younger Jackson says in the ad. ‘‘Next year, you can send more than a message. You can launch a president.’’
In the ad, Jackson, D-Ill., says ‘‘a lot of politicians call themselves our friends. But Obama has a heart that beats for our community. And he’s dedicated his life to the struggle.’’
Jackson goes on to mention laws the senator has supported ‘‘to stop racial profiling, and the railroading of the poor in the justice system.’’
Obama’s campaign said the ad will air on 36 urban, gospel and other stations aimed at black listeners around the state.
The campaign has previously said it was too early to target groups of voters in South Carolina, where half of the Democratic primary voters are black. But Jackson said in a telephone interview Tuesday that this ad is an effort to reach black voters.
‘‘Who doesn’t target in political campaigns?’’ Jackson asked. ‘‘We are reaching out to African-Americans and, with other surrogates, during the campaign we will be reaching out to other demographics within that campaign.’’
Jackson said he was trying to convince voters that Obama ‘‘is not speaking as a friend of the community. He is part of our community — that he’s one of us; that he directly relates to the struggles within the African-American Community.’’
The ad launch comes one month after The (Columbia) State newspaper in South Carolina reported that Jackson’s father said Obama was ‘‘acting like he’s white’’ for not speaking out more forcefully about a racially charged school beating in Jena, La., that sparked demonstrations by civil rights advocates.
The elder Jackson later said he had been taken out of context.