Obama Buying Half-Hour Block of Prime-time Broadcast

A really smart idea, in my opinion. This seems like the kind of tactic that should cement his lead.

No filter of the Main Stream Media, just Straight Talk directly to the American People.

Oh wait, is that the other campaign ?

Another reason for me not to watch network TV. There is enough political coverage with the candidates having their own half-hour sitcom. There are 3 debates this election season. That is plenty of time for their messagesto get across.

Savvy use of this marketing medium. The debate formats are awkward at best with each candidate ingnoring the 'agreed upon rules' in order to refute and rebut rather than address the questions posed. I agree with the blogger who said, 'this tactic should cement Obama's lead.' - Tuning in in Boston, MA

Thank God for 300 channels on cable/satellite so I can be sure and watch something interesting instead.... UGH!

Creating this election eve road block in prime time is a very smart tactic. How well it will pay off will depend on the audience it draws. I suspect it will be huge and that the small but key undecided voters will make up an important part of the audience. Airing this a few days before election day will be a very successful closer!
Fergus O'Daly New York, NY

I will not watch it! I am so sick of an ineffective current president, a country that is sinking, and an election that started four years ago.

I am tired of having a big vehicle that I can't sell.. with no gas, high heat bills, half of my 401K, high food prices, that everlasting, unnecessary war in Iraq, huge premiums for health care and that word "CHANGE" that hasn't changed a thing. It does nothing for me, the little guy.

Obama has had the stage for over two years. First with Hillary, now with McCain. He doesn't need to spend millions more to let us know he is going to "CHANGE" the world. It is the most stagnant "action" word I have heard. Give that money to the people being evicted or to the ones who need a job or food.

Why does Obama need to outspend McCain three to one? It is obscene.

Obama's first stop in Iowa was October 4, 2004 in Davenport, right across the river from Illinois, where he had just become a state senator.

A month after that appearance in Iowa, and after his election to the Senate, Obama told reporters, "If I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, without having served a day in the Senate. Now, there are some people who might be comfortable doing that, but I'm not one of those people."

Is this quote accurate? Who knows. It's hard to believe anything you read today.

I just want the the elections over. I will rejoice the day after elections. Just don't mention that word "CHANGE" to me again. Just get IT done!!!!

I'm thinking this is really a talented Obama team! What angers the McCain team, is that they aren't talented enough to think of effective strategies themselves. At every turn they are out smarted. It's clear that McCain is stuffy, stiff and bland. Do we really want the twin brother to George Bush to sit in the white house. Did you see how feeble McCain appeared during the debate? At any minute I thought it was going to tip over on his head. He is only choices are to look feeble, talk trash and to being himself - Disrespectful and NASTY.
See you November 4th!

Seems like with the changing media landscape there could be a more effective use of his advertising money in a more dynamic medium.

It's funny how advertisers complain that with the internet and the growing interaction with multiple mediums at once, television advertising is not reaching their customers and isn't an effective use of their money.

But now that Barack's is doing extended tv advertising, then suddenly it's a good idea. Don't confuse the your interest in the source with the use of the medium.

This kind of strategic thinking on the part of his team is the primary reason I will probably vote for Obama. We need a president who can lead by providing a vision and get people to rally behind the cause.

I don't get why this is brilliant.It might serve as a pep rally for those who have already decided to vote for Obama, but it's hard to imagine that it will have any impact on the remaining undecideds.

To me the more interesting story is the increasing number of voters who are turning to third party candidates. Nader's numbers are up because, unlike both McCain and Obama, he is against this bailout. At least in my circle, many people are frustrated that the mainstream candidates are both voting to bail their corporate buddies out and pay for AIG's field trips.

Complete waste of money. This election was over from the minute the word "bailout" hit the headlines. It's like watching a football game and one team is ahead 24 points with 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter and they're just running the ball up the middle to run the clock out. Seriously, the economic crisis killed any chance McCain had of pulling this election out. (That and picking the hockey Mom as a running mate.) This election will be a slaughter and buying a 30 minute block of prime time network TV is completely unnecessary at this point.

The reason this is a good use of TV ad time is that the majority of the country has received Senator Obama's message through the filter of the news media, who reduces the content of his speaches to a small handful of soundbites. Very few have had the opportunity to hear him speak live, with the full length and context of his message. This "roadblock" will allow him to finally speak to the whole country (not to just Democrats, like at the convention) without any media filters and in his communication's entirety.

For those arguing that this is a waste of money, keep two things in mind:
1) Though things look all but done for McCain, he was written off during the primaries and a couple times already during the general. Obama's smart enough to know that this isn't over until it's over.
2) While we're all carrying on a conversation on a blog, the vast majority of Americans don't get their politics through Facebook, web ads, email outreach, etc. A very large swath of Americans don't make up their mind until the week before the election and those same Americans watch prime-time broadcast TV.

Especially when you consider Obama is paying less for the roadblock than he did for the Olympic ads, this is a pretty brilliant move.

Really

So it is a smart move if you are an Obama supporter and a dumb stunt if you support McCain? Obama has money to burn so why not burn it? He wants to convert undecided voters? Or – is it a desperate move? There appears to be a barely audible undercurrent that suggests that many of those claiming to be undecided have really decided on McCain but either want the attention given to the undecided or don't want to engage associates who have made a different decision. Swaying a "decided" voter might take a full 30 minutes – but will they tune in? Recently I heard a comment regarding the government's possible plan to buy bank stock to get things going again. The comment was that it might make things worse. The logic is this. If you see an ambulance in front of your neighbor's house it is fair to assume something is very wrong inside. The government buying a large chunk of a bank would show that the bank is in trouble. That might be exactly what this roadblock of advertising might be saying about the Obama campaign.

Let's face it folks, this is nothing special...it's just another informercial.

Let's face it folks...It's just another informercial.

It is agreed that this campaign season has been nasty, and both sides are guilty of this. Barack Obama has done a brilliant job in the spin, but spin is all he has. There is no substance. Try scratching the surface, and you find no legislative background, no major accomplishments in law or business -- nothing besides an excellent education and blatant self-promotion. What will 30 minutes of prime time do except continue the demagoguery? Mr. McCain has a record, like it or not. He has many accomplishments in life and in politics, like them or not. He has stood for his convictions and taken many blows, physically and politically, as a result. Again, like them or not. Experience, success and failure shape a person. Mr. Stephen Davis suggested that Mr. McCain looked feeble in the debate. His gait, as feeble as it may look to you, is the result of those blows, his legs being broken repeatedly by the north Vietnamese. Mr. Davis, look beyond the surface. Read their legislative records and form an opinion about their real leadership ability. 30 minutes of prime time won't do anything except polish the sheen on Mr. Obama's surface.

It's interesting that that rules have changed for political advertising on television. Obama putting himself on TV for 30 minutes and the whole publicity that he will be on TV for 30 minutes is a big deal. People are texting in right now on the gaming site, Predicto.com if more than 20 million viewers will watch Barack Obama's primetime ad on 10/29? Twenty million is a ratings high nowadays so we will just have to wait and see, and perhaps win a Predicto prize for guessing correctly!