*Obama Infomercial Well Received By Media*   Sen. Barack Obama's
presidential campaign aired a 30-minute infomercial entitled "American
Stories, American Solutions" Wednesday evening simultaneously on CBS, NBC,
Fox, MSNBC, Univision, Black Entertainment Television, and TVOne.
      *ABC World News*, the *CBS Evening News*, and *NBC Nightly News* all
previewed the infomercial before it aired, and major newspapers cover it
this morning. The *Washington
Post*<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/29/AR2008102904299.html>says
Obama "blitzed the television airwaves" in the ad, in which he
"offered
details about his approach to issues such as housing, taxes, the Iraq war
and energy policy." The program "ended with two minutes of live footage of
Obama speaking to 20,000 cheering supporters in South Florida." *USA
Today*<http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-29-Obama-infomercial_N.htm>says
Obama strategist David Axelrod "said the campaign chose a 30-minute
format to distinguish the ad from other political commercials. 'The airways
are glutted with 30-second ads and it's hard to break through,' he said."
The *AP*<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Campaign-Rdp.html?scp=29&sq=%2b%22Barack+Obama%22&st=nyt>says
the spot, "purchased at a cost that campaign aides put at roughly $4
million, not only marked Obama's attempt to seal his case with the
electorate, but also underscored his enormous financial advantage in the
race."
      The ad is receiving very positive coverage this morning. *The Politico
* <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15085.html> called it a
"smoothly produced infomercial" that "weaved together American iconography
-- images of amber waves of grain, pickup trucks and American flags -- with
portraits of iconic voters, testimonials from politicians and one business
figure, footage of Obama speeches and direct appeals from the candidate."
The *Los Angeles
Times*<http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-ads30-2008oct30,0,1154275.story>says
the spot "offered even the swiftest channel-flipper the chance to see
Obama looking presidential." The *New York
Post*<http://www.nypost.com/seven/10302008/news/politics/inf_o_mercial_blitzes_nation_135966.htm>says
"the heavily hyped piece let Obama -- whom Republicans have tried to
paint as 'different' and 'foreign' -- reinforce the notion that he's an
everyman." The *New York Daily
News*<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/10/29/2008-10-29_barack_obama_goes_prime_time_with_halfho.html>reports,
"From its opening image of a rippling field of golden grain to
shots of small-town U.S.A., Obama's epic echoed the style pioneered by
Ronald Reagan's famous feel-good 'It's Morning in America' ads from his 1984
re-election campaign."
      Speaking on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360", CNN analyst David Gergen,
conceding that there were some elements of the video he could criticize,
said, "At the risk of gushing, I must tell you overall it was extremely well
done." On its website, *ABC
News*<http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=6142700&page=1>reported
ABC News' Chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos said
the infomercial "was worth 'just about every penny.'" In the *Washington
Post*<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/29/AR2008102904753.html>,
television critic Tom Shales writes, "Somehow both poetic and practical,
spiritual and sensible, the paid political broadcast...was a montage of
montages, a series of seamlessly blended segments interweaving the stories
of embattled Americans with visions of their deliverer, Guess Who."
      *McCain: Ad Highlight Obama's "Broken Promises" On Campaign Spending*
*McClatchy* <http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/54962.html> says Sen.
McCain "scoffed at the show." Addressing a Florida crowd, McCain said, "When
you're watching this gauzy, feel-good commercial, just remember that it was
paid for with broken promises." McCain elaborated on the point on *CNN's
Larry King Live*, saying, "He signed a piece of paper back when he was a
longshot candidate. He said, 'I will take public financing for the
presidential campaign if John McCain will.' ... He didn't tell the American
people the truth."

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