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 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 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 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 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 says the spot "offered even the swiftest channel-flipper the chance to see Obama looking presidential." The New York Post 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 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 reported ABC News' Chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos said the infomercial "was worth 'just about every penny.'" In the Washington Post, 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 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."