Obamapallooza Edition

At long last! The Obama infomercial. Personally, I liked it, but then, I'm in the tank, as they say. (And can I just say that I called it yesterday-- several clips taken right from the DNC introduction video showed up in last night's piece.) But love it or not, the truth is, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Five days before the election, Obama is the candidate with all the buzz and the preliminary Nielsen numbers for last night were high. Truth be told, even as I watched it, I was worried --that's what I do, and I do it well-- I thought perhaps the infomercial would be viewed as indulgent. Silly me. In keeping with his "Closing Argument" speech, the infomercial focused less on attacking McCain than looking at the case for why Americans need change, but what it really put over is the idea that this is the candidate who understands the complexities of what it's like to live in America right now. Not a scary Muslim terrorist--just a guy with a lot of good ideas.

Over at the Nation, John Nichols had this to say: "It was, as well, a statement. And Barack Obama's determination to make it the closing message of this long campaign will go a long way toward reassuring uncertain voters about the president he intends to be. Most commercials aren't worth the thirty seconds it takes to watch them. Obama's commercial is a thirty minute slice of an American story that was crying out to be told... and that Barack Obama heard."

From Tom Shales at WaPo: "As political filmmaking, 'Barack Obama: American Stories' was an elegant combination of pictures, sounds, voices and music designed not so much to sell America on Barack Obama as to communicate a sensibility. The film conveyed feelings, not facts -- specifically, a simulation of how it would feel to live in an America with Barack Obama in the White House. The tone and texture recalled the "morning in America" campaign film made on behalf of Ronald Reagan, a work designed to give the audience a sense of security and satisfaction; things are going to be all right...Although McCain was not seen during the half-hour, one could easily summon the contrasting image of the Republican while watching Obama. McCain has come across on television as relatively worried, whiny, fusty and falsely folksy. He brought bad news; he has come to epitomize and personify it. Obama brings you medication along with the list of symptoms; he has developed a great bedside, as well as fireside, manner."

Here's the other subtle subtext I took away from the infomercial. Organization gives you smooth operation. The half hour taped segment went so seamlessly into a live rally with Obama and Biden addressing the crowd and the nation from Florida that even Joe Biden was impressed by the magic of TV. Look at who's the organized one, America. If that had been the McCain campaign's half hour, there probably would have been a satellite fizzle, about ten seconds of black screen and an awkward cut back to a confused candidate saying, "Are we back, are we live now?"

Witness today's rally in which McCain gave a shout-out to Joe the Plumber (who's been campaigning with him) and um... was met with silence... No Joe. Ooops. Not only that, but to add insult to injury, apparently, MSNBC's First Read reported, the crowd was a little thin and so the campaign had to bus in an entire school district's worth of kids. Doh!

Anyhoo, Barack had a busy day yesterday, making a very funny and engaging appearance on Jon Stewart's Daily Show looking relaxed and really, frankly, a lot less stressed than I feel.

The big story though, will no doubt be Obama's "Colbert Bump." Yes, bowing to the waves of ObamaCons surging to the Democrat, Stephen Colbert last night endorsed Barack Obama. Look for at least a point and a half rise in his numbers as a result.

Obama capped it all off with an appearance with Bill Clinton at a rally in Florida. More on that below.

Also, although Obama's infomercial didn't run on ABC, Obama did an interview with Charlie Gibson and talked about the posibility of a bi-partisan cabinet in an Obama administration. "On a whole host of these issues, I think we need Republicans, not just as show pieces. In some cases, Republicans have good ideas. And, you know, I've always been more than happy to steal good ideas from whatever the source."

Out of the Mouths of Babes

<== Obama, offering his water to a rally attendee who had passed out. I'm still marvelling at his ability to make us all feel calmer. It's a strange power. No matter what happens, whether it's the entire financial system melting down in a colossal mess, or the microphone cutting out, or an audience member fainting, he always seems to know just what to do. Maybe he's an alien. Thanks to Dina for these links, which hilariously point out the differences between the way kids react to McCain versus Obama.