• The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:15 AM

The Democratic Party is firing its opening ad salvo of the fall campaign this week, with a spot designed to make presumptive GOP nominee John McCain eat his words about the current economic situation. Titled "Better Off," it features video of McCain in January saying that "Americans overall are better off [than eight years ago] because we've had a pretty good, prosperous time," with low unemployment and low inflation.

Overlays point out, however, that the U.S. has had the "highest inflation in 17 years," along with "1.8 million jobs lost" and "gas prices up 200%." Then the clincher: "Do you think you're better off?" asks a narrator at the end. That comes right out of Ronald Reagan's 1980 playbook when he used the same question in the final debate of his ultimately successful campaign against incumbent Pres. Jimmy Carter. The DNC says the ad will run for three weeks on national cable channels and promises "more to come."

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