Having just spent more than a month in Northeast Ohio, I can tell you anecdatally that the economy is THE story there. In my parents’ reasonably nice, middle-class suburb, every third house is on the block (4 bdr/2.5 bath — $159,000!). And the local paper, The Plain Dealer, in addition to running front-page articles about rising food prices, is filled with heartrending human-interest stories about struggling Clevelanders facing hard times. All of that said, I’m not sure that I’d describe the people with whom I spent time as “bitter.” But they’re pretty anxious. Which is likely the right context in which to run an ad like the one above.

To be honest, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a more devastating political attack that’s also true. “Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” is probably also a contender.

Via Ezra Klein.