help with countdown clock

So - I've got this nifty javascript countdown clock that will display the time remaining until some event. It wants the end time (in this case, the auction end time) in this format:
TargetDate = "12/31/2020 5:00 AM";
I would like to be able to grab the {$product->display('closing_time')} and give it to the javascript so I can have a cute little clock ticking down on each of my auctions, but I will have to format it differently OR tell the javascript to accept the format I already have.
I'm not really sure where to start, so any pointers would be nice. Thanks,
Beth
TargetDate = "12/31/2020 5:00 AM";
I would like to be able to grab the {$product->display('closing_time')} and give it to the javascript so I can have a cute little clock ticking down on each of my auctions, but I will have to format it differently OR tell the javascript to accept the format I already have.
I'm not really sure where to start, so any pointers would be nice. Thanks,
Beth