The new Crossroads GPS ad “Basketball” could prove to be the most effective ad of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The ad is not red meat for right wingers. It does not go after President Obama for his associations with radicals such as Van Jones, Bill Ayers or the Reverend Wright. I doesn’t go after Obama’s Socialism — his desire to redistribute all our wealth. It doesn’t even go after Obama’s extremists efforts to radically transform America.

No, the new “Basketball” ad subtly goes after those who were swayed by presidential candidate Obama’s eloquent offer of hope for change and the disappointment they are now experiencing. As the New York Times puts it, the ad is not a “searing denunciation” of Obama. It is more a soft-pedaled, deeply researched, delicately worded story of a struggling family let down by Obama’s failure to make things better.

The ad opens with a woman watching her young children playing basketball, talking about her family’s financial hard times, with her voice full of disappointment

“I always loved watching the kids play basketball, I still do, even though things have changed.”

Her face morphs into that of an older woman. She explains how her adult children have moved back into the house because they are unable to find jobs. And she is not sure she can afford to retire:

“I supported President Obama because he spoke so beautifully. He promised change. But things changed for the worse.”

The ad then subtly hits Obama’s failed stimulus, incessant spending, the ever unpopular ObamaCare, bailouts, the increasingly unsustainable national debt, student loan debt and the lack of jobs.

As the New York Times describes it, the 60-second advertisement, is a deeply researched, delicately worded story of a struggling family.

You can now watch the ad at Right Side Politics.

The initial exclusive placement of the ad with the New York Times was a stroke of genius. Is there a better place to reach the now disappointed middle-of-the-road voters who voted for Obama’s 2008 promise of hope and change?

The New York Times has had the ad up and running since about midnight along with an interesting article that explains how the folks at Crossroads GPS super pac have been working on the ad since October:

Behind the story of the ad’s creation rests one of the greatest challenges for Republicans in this election: how to develop a powerful line of attack against a president who remains well liked even by people who are considering voting against him.

The concept for the newest advertisement and even some of the lines in the script were culled directly from focus groups of undecided and sometimes torn voters that were held over nearly a year.

[. . .]

“They are not interested in being told they made a horrible mistake,” said Steven J. Law, president of Crossroads GPS and the affiliated “super PAC,” American Crossroads. “The disappointment they’re now experiencing has to be handled carefully.”

According to the Times, the “Basketball” ad will launch today in 10 swing states as the centerpiece of a $25 million campaign, it is expected to become one of the most heavily broadcast political commercials of this phase of the general election.