Well, the typical has happened as it pertains to the powerful informercial by Barack Obama. The republicans said it was so so, but had to admit it was effective. The Dems and those of any integrity and itelligence found it moving, innovative, skillful, and the best run presidential campaign of the modern era. Here are a few of the sensible comments from politico.com:
The Obama half-hour production last night, regardless of the election’s outcome, reflects the best run presidential campaign of the modern era. Mark Hanna must be smiling down (or up) on the money-raising skill, ground operation, and ability to stay on message of the Obama
I found it surprisingly effective. As I argued in The Powers to Lead, the key soft power skills are emotional intelligence, vision, and communication. The program, including its live ending, showed Obama as presidential on all those dimensions -- echos of FDR and Ronald Reagan. Of course people perceive such ads through their pre-existing mental filters. I doubt it swayed many Republicans, but it may have affected some independents as well as energized Democrats.
The medium was the message: a diversity of people and families, including Obama’s family, explaining their problems and hearing solutions from a leader who looked presidential. Bill Richardson said toward the end that Obama brings people together, and we saw that on screen. A great mix of concern and hope, ideas and endorsements that covered every campaign message and wrapped them all in one inspiring and coherent package.
Here's the simplest measure of how this piece was effective: it reminded us what it's like to look forward to hearing from our President. What Obama has reinvented here is not the campaign ad but the fireside chat.
The Obama 30-minute program/ ad may be the finest political advertisement in modern American political history - and regardless of the outcome of the election, will be used as a textbook model for humanized, effective political messaging for years to come.
Obama raised the bar for discourse in this past week -- a totally positive, solutions-oriented half hour. Didn't criticize his opponent, didn't even mention him. How can McCain/Palin still continue with their petty, nasty attacks at everyone who's ever lived in Hyde Park? Is that how he wants his last campaign's week to be remembered?The little things I noticed: explicit references to major American corporations Wal-Mart, Ford and Google; the upper half of Oprah Winfrey's head; Bibles; amber waves of grain; the parade of Vice Presidential runners-up Claire McCaskill, Bearded Bill Richardson and Tim "The People's Eyebrow" Kaine; and, for once, a candidate referring to his website in a context that had nothing to do with money, but in connecting voters with information.
Was it effective? You bet! It was a great piece of television, flawlessly produced and paced beautifully. It reinforced every theme Obama wants to hit. Followed by a late-night rally in Florida, it makes it a very good day and night for Obama. Even if it does not get a huge cumulative audience for the money spent, it serves another big purpose. At this stage of a campaign, control of the message for each day is critical. Today and tomorrow, Obama controls the message.For McCain, the bad news is this: If you are behind with six days to go, you can't afford to lose two of them.
It was brilliant to end the half hour magazine-show style presentation by moving to a live closing. Realizing the show was suddenly live sent a jolt of electricity through the room in which I was watching; everyone sat up and gasped.
The live ending reflected back on the prior half hour: here was Obama, looking and sounding exactly as he did in the produced segment, and this was real, so what came before must haven been real, too. It also sent a very eloquent metamessage: that Obama could time the closing of his talk to tens of thousands of people so perfectly and seamlessly, gave the impression of control, discipline, and breathtaking competence that are exactly what is needed in a leader, especially now.
My son, 13, left his video games to watch it. If Obama achieves nothing else, I thank him for that. In fact, I hear that lots of people watched it with their families or with friends. More importantly, I hear they went out of their way to watch it with their families and friends, as opposed to stumbling across it while waiting for the World Series. Whatever side you're on, when you remind yourself that this was just a long ad, you must admit that this is beyond remarkable.
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