Presidential campaign ad wars open up in Pennsylvania

The presidential election is nearly six months away, but ads attacking Mitt Romney and Barack Obama already are airing on Pennsylvania stations.

One ad features Pat Wells, who worked at a Kansas City steel plant that closed eight years after it was taken over by Bain Capital, the financial firm Romney once ran.

“He promised us the same things he’s promised the United States. He’ll give you the same thing … nothing,” Wells says in the ad, which is sponsored not by the Obama campaign, but by Priorities USA, the super PAC that takes unlimited contributions to advance the president’s re-election effort.

You can see the ad below.

The super PAC associated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, Crossroads GPS, has responded with a $487,000 TV buy in Pennsylvania to run an attacking Obama.

The ad claims Obama has broken promises to help homeowners facing foreclosure and to protect middle-class citizens from tax increases.

You can see the Crossroads ad above.

Franklin and Marshall College political scientist Terry Madonna said the early ads prove Pennsylvania remains a key battleground. He noted that after a week in which gay marriage dominated media coverage, the political ads focused on pocketbook issues.

“Not to say that other issues aren’t important,” Madonna said in a phone interview. “But the folks who put money into campaigns understand that this election is about the economy.”

Madonna says both sides have enough money to wage the ad wars through Election Day.