Strickland tries to shift focus to economy in 19th Senate District

While state Senate candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and outside groups attack Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) on his environmental record and his ties to big business, the former three-term assemblyman is on the air with a new ad as he looks to shift the debate to the economy.

"In this economic crisis, Hannah-Beth Jackson's talking about everything but the economy," begins a narrator in Strickland's latest ad. "Why? Her economic plan: higher taxes."

The narrator cites a nickname given to Jackson by one of her hometown papers, the Santa Barbara News Press. "Taxin' Jackson," concludes the narrator. "Wrong for the economy. Wrong for us."

Strickland consultant Joe Justin argued that Jackson's attack ads won't resonate with voters during an economic crisis. "Right now, you turn on the T.V., you pick up the paper, it's all about people's fears, people being afraid of losing their retirement," Justin said. "[Jackson] is talking about everything but that."

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