Oh, sorry. I just thought of the first ubiquitous commercial that is played over and over and over and over… Not that Obama is as annoying as the ShamWowDude (or Billy Maise), just that at some point overexposure can work against him.
I think he and his staff must have done some sort of metric in which they compared and considered a few different numbers:
How many people are:
going to be turned off by having their shows interrupted?
going to end up with a negative(ish) impression of Obama because they can’t escape the election?
going to be turned off by the apparent megalomania of him appearing on prime time?
going to actually tune in and change their minds?
going to tune in, and though they are already going to voter for him, will help convince others to as well?
etc.
Some fo the negative groups may or may not be small, but given how well the campaign has run so far, I can’t imagine that the balancing wasn’t considered. I hope they got the numbers right.
I don’t think it could hurt, unless it’s too unapologetically self-congratulatory. But footage of him mixing with ordinary Americans interspersed with simply charts and graphs showing why his tax policies will benefit most working Americans will certainly get some points across better than the soundbytes and stump speech rhetoric that comprises most of his news coverage currently. There are still a lot of Undecideds out there and if he can swing only 1/2 of 1% of them, that’s still millions of converts.
It won’t be The Best Half Hour of TV Ever! But he’s proven that extended exposure to him is the best way to diffuse the criticism and allay the fears. More power to him (though I, too, will be watching PD tonight).
Sure it could hurt, but I think that he wants to reach as many as he can. I think he wants to lead all of America, and this is one way to reach as many as he can, not just to get the most electoral votes, but to show people where he wants to lead America and how he plans to get there.
Even if Obama’s campaign is paying for this as advertising, does this still count under equal-time laws? If so, would McCain have to have 90 minutes (as it’s on three networks) or just 30 (since it’s the same content on three networks)?
I wasn’t aware that there still WERE equal-time laws. I thought that’s what the Republicans are so afraid of…that a Democratic Congress and president together would re-institute the Fairness Doctrine.
From what I read back when this story came out a few weeks ago, any networks selling time to Obama must give the same offer (time slot & price) to the McCain campaign if the McCain campaign wants it.
I assume that either they didn’t want it or they can’t afford the million bucks per network.
My understanding is that it’s 8:00 to 8:30. They were talking about the World Series on Fox and they were noting that the game doesn’t usually actually start until 8:23 or 8:25. The only thing they’re not showing because of the Obama buy is the pre-game show.
Pssst…I still have no clue as to what you are talking about. But, I share your concern re him turning people off. I hope this doesn’t come off as conceited or presumptious–which is how McCain is playing it.
I am also reminded of Adlai Stevenson, who thought that America would be interested in watching him speak for 30 minutes. Ike just put out a ad jingle and was voted in. America needs a wonk right now, but we don’t want to see a wonk, if you follow me. Wonks are boring, but effective and vital. I hope the 30 minutes goes by quickly.
Obama streams a bunch of his campaign appearances live on his website, so I’d be checking there, if you weren’t going to be rushing out and buying a TV.
I have an advance copy of his speech. Here’s an excerpt:
“Hope. Change. Hopey-hopey-change-change. Changey-hopey. Bush is evil. Hopey-changey-changey-hopey. Redistribute the wealth. Changey-changey-hopey-hopey. Bush is still evil.”
