White House uses chain e-mail to counter critics

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's push to revamp health care got a boost Thursday as a new coalition of drug makers, unions, hospitals and others launched a $12 million pro-overhaul ad campaign.

Meanwhile, the administration sought to regain control of the health care debate by asking supporters to forward a chain e-mail to counter criticism that's circulating on the Internet. The e-mail by White House senior adviser David Axelrod offers reasons to support Obama's agenda - and myths to debunk.

Axelrod wrote that opponents are relying on tactics including "viral e-mails that fly unchecked and under the radar, spreading all sorts of lies."

The new ad airing in a dozen states is being paid for by a new coalition called Americans for Stable Quality Care. Members of the group are Families USA, the Service Employees International Union, the drug lobby Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the American Medical Association and the Federation of American Hospitals.

The new ads are running for two weeks in Arkansas, Alaska, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Maine and Virginia, home to moderate Democrats who would be crucial to passage of any health care legislation.

Separately, the pro-overhaul group Health Care for America Now announced a $200,000 expansion of an ad campaign targeting specific lawmakers and asking them to support health legislation.

Health Care for America Now is targeting several moderate Democratic House members who have voted against health legislation or expressed skepticism about it - Reps. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota and Rick Boucher of Virginia. Also targeted by the ads are Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Thomas Carper, D-Del.

On the other side, the group Conservatives for Patients' Rights announced it will run TV and print ads in Bozeman, Mont., and Grand Junction, Colo., to coincide with Obama town halls in those cities on Friday and Saturday. The ads urge opposition to a new public insurance plan supported by Obama that would compete with private insurers.