Obama’s 30 Minute Infomercial: Smart Production Values And Smart Target Focus

There are those of us who are old enough to remember the days when politicians bought 30 minute blocs of time to do infomercials that ran on one or more networks. These political infomercials weren’t always purchased by the main, top candidates — and their production values often left lot to be desired.

In 1964, then Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton ran an extended commercial to try and unsuccessfully stop conservative Senator Barry Goldwater. And throughout his controversial and unsuccessful national career, third party candidate Lyndon LaRouche would buy big blocks of network time (one of the most notable I recall was where he kept having to push his slipping glasses back onto his face throughout his long, convoluted talk). While there were some glitzy political infomercials over the years, all too often they consisted of candidates looking into a camera and doing extended campaign speech without an audience to cheer them on.

The infomercial run by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama tonight was quite different.

Its production values were topflight. It had a strong biographical narrative. The opening scene is Oval Office-esque, which could reassure some voters wondering how they’d feel with Obama as President. Obama himself came across as pleasant, serious and reassuring. And he seemed to wear well: a problem with Al Gore in 2000 was that, after his debate performances, some pundits noted, people wondered “My God, if we vote for this guy it means we have to listen to him for FOUR YEARS!”

But other factors suggest that this infomercial — if it was watched by anyone other than those who already plan to vote for Obama, media types, and bloggers who want to write about it — might prove positive for the Obama campaign. (1) He focused on issues, particularly on the economy. (2) It was not an angry attack ad aimed at responding to Republican candidate Sen. John McCain but did answer some of McCain’s charges without seeming defensive. (3) The real life stories of voters worked and the people featured in these vignettes were highly symbolic in what they represented and the states in which they reside. They seemed to counter Joe The Plumber (except apparently none of them are seeking a country-western record contract..) (4) The live event at the end was masterful.

Indeed, the live event tied all the pre-packaged material with the perfect camera angles, the music, and an Obama talking into a camera in a room together. It also provided a final closing argument to his campaign.

Most likely Obama’s critics and GOPers will pan the infomercial. But compared to extended campaign pitches in the past, this seemed to have elements to either solidify Obama’s support or perhaps pick up some more support — from those viewers not tuning in to baseball.

Here’s the program as posted on You Tube. Watch it and leave your reaction, criticisms, etc in comments. What’s your prediction on a) its impact on the race and b) whether future candidates will look at it and decide it’s the way to go in future campaigns, or it was mostly a waste of money.


SOME WEB REACTION (as it comes in):

--Marc Ambinder:

(One thing I’ve noticed: you can’t tease the Obama team about it. I tried. They take it very very seriously. A lot of folks worked hard on it, yes, but television commercials with musical soundtracks are inherently amusing. Even when they’re not supposed to be.)

Production values: A+. The cut to the live Florida remote was Roger Goodman-flawless.

–Hot Air’s Allahpundit:

8 p.m. ET on CBS, NBC, Fox(!), Univision, etc etc. ABC and all three cable news nets are scheduled to be Hopenchange-free, but don’t be surprised if Olby points the camera at a monitor airing the commercial and just lets it roll until 8:30. That’s pretty much all “Countdown” is anyway.

Here’s a sneak preview, in which we find The One using his “empathy” voice — quite distinct from this one — and the awkward directionless hand gestures to which we’ve become accustomed during these closing arguments. Snark away below. If you’re depressed at the sight of him momentarily taking over the airwaves, this might cheer you up.

While we wait, anyone have any song ideas for Joe Wurzelbacher? A country/western cover of “Taxman” is obligatory. What about originals? “Your Cheatin’ Clogged the Drainpipe to My Heart”?

–Americablog did some live blogging of the informercial. Here’s a tiny taste 4 U:

Rob @ 8:02: Barack Obama is making his closing statement. John McCain has been asking who is Barack Obama – this entire spot talks to the America that Obama sees. Who he has selected for these stories tells you about him and his values.

Joe @ 8:05: I feel like he is talking to us like we are adults.

Rob @ 8:06: Obama is detailing out exactly what he’s going to do to solve the economic crisis – and he explains how he’s going to do it. For a closing statement, this is exactly what he needs to do.

Rob @ 8:10: I really like this direct to camera format – while some don’t like it, Barack Obama has to close the deal and the only way he can do that is face-to-face with the American people. This isn’t an infomercial, it’s a commitment to help voters understand exactly what his priorities are and understand his values.

….Rob @ 8:12: Obama is going right at Iraq – there isn’t a single issue of this campaign that Obama has ceded the ground to McCain.

Joe @ 8:16: I can’t help but compare this to the way McCain and Palin have been campaigning lately with all their screeching and negative attacks. I don’t think John McCain could never pull this off. He doesn’t have the ideas — or the temperament. This is all about the issues people are actually talking about.

…..Rob @ 8:22: There isn’t a single thing that McCain can rail against here. It’s not all bio or all issues – it answers both who he is and what he’ll do as President. It is the closing argument he needed to make to wrap up what has been a historically consistent campaign.

–Comments From Left Field:

I think this infomercial will most definitely yield positive short term gains. I think it definitely is going to kill the news cycle tomorrow as all the pundits will want to have their shot, and pollsters put polls in the field in an attempt to measure the immediate results.

What will those pollsters find? That could be hard to say, it’s difficult to measure the persuasiveness of a tool if you are already persuaded but the execution of the thing itself leads me to believe that this will solidify support for Obama among those who may have been leaning in his direction, and it may coax more fence sitters to his side of the fence than to McCain’s.

If this effect is large enough to be measured, that will reflect in the polls which will itself become a part of the news cycle and potentially carry us to the weekend.

There is room for backlash, though. As I write this, I know there are McCain supporters who are dissecting the program in as many ways to do Obama harm, and they are going to try and hijack the news cycle. I can’t say how successful they will be, but they are going to give it a shot.

But over all I do think this was money well spent, I do think this was a wise move, and I do think that a lot of Americans saw Obama deliver a very convincing and effective closing argument.

–Election Geek:

Boy did it suck…

There, I said it. Sorry, but it did. Anyone who thought that godawful half an hour was worth the millions of dollars it took to put it on the air, wow you need to get your pulse checked.

–APOOO Book Club:

I can’t wait to cast my vote…. Very emotional for me…he definitely talked to US and about US…I’m ready for a change…I’m voting for Barack Obama.

–The infomercial got some notice on CNN’s Larry King Live blog which, before its airing, had a post that posed this question:

Several political image makers, both Republicans and Democrats, say it’s a smart move. But is there a risk of excess in it, as well?

While Obama hasn’t made many strategic mistakes in his campaign against Republican John McCain, he has, on occasion, shown a weakness for extravagance.

–Political Machine:

I just finished watching Barack Obama’s half-hour television special, and aside from presenting the bullet points of his would-be presidency, the overriding message was the above reassurance: This is a good guy.

The special interspersed those bullet points with stories of everyday Americans, struggling to get by, in search of some hope. They did a good job of making the stories relatable and poignant, without being overly sentimental. These are people with practical problems, and Obama spoke to their problems with clarity.

What really struck me, though, was how ordinary those solutions seemed. The challenges that Americans face are tough, but Obama exposes what stands in our way, what keeps us from overcoming them, and that is simply the will to do so.

This was a great closing argument for Obama, a chance for people who haven’t been paying attention to see that they have nothing to fear from Barack Obama.

–Michelle Malkin did live blogging. A small portion of it:

9) Obama promises to be Mr. Tough on national security. He’ll bolster the military. (Not if Barney Frank has his say.)

Guffaw: A supporter says he wants a leader who is devoted to the Constitution.

Sorry, I am having a snort attack.

Gag: A slideshow of glowy, Messianic photos flashes by. Obama hugs. Obama empathizes. Obama heeeaaaaals.

All hail the Lightworker. Fixer of Souls. Spreader of Wealth.

8:26pm Eastern. Bill Suck-Up Richardson makes an appearance. Auditioning for Energy Secretary or something.

Website pluggage: barackobama.com. Go. Now.