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October 29th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

Video & Photos: Barack Obama Infomercial Video 10-29-08 [Obama 30 Minute Ad]

Barack Obama, rally in Sunrise, Florida, October 29, 2008

Here is the full video of the Barack Obama infomercial broadcast on October 29, 2008 and photos of the live rally in Sunrise, Florida which concluded the TV special. Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is the first Presidential candidate in 16 years to reach out to votors in this manner. The Obama infomercial, “American Stories, American Solutions” aired on CBS, NBC, Fox, Univision, BET, MSNBC, and TV One.

Davis Guggenheim, the Academy Award winning director and executive producer of former Vice President Al Gore’s global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” directed portions of the infomercial. Guggenheim’s father was the Robert F. Kennedy Presidential campaign documentarian.

At the heart of the program were the stories of four everyday families of different backgrounds who told stories of lost health care benefits, the necessities of food rationing and the need to hold more than one job. Mr. Obama told how his mother had to worry about whether a new health care policy would cover her as she lay dying of ovarian cancer. And he retold his background as the grandson of a man who fought in “Patton’s Army” and a grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line in World War II.

But for much of the program Mr. Obama stood before a presidential desk as he laid out his tax plans, health care plans and his approach to world affairs, saying that, as commander in chief, “I’ll renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.”

Source: The Ad Campaign: An Obama Infomercial, Big, Glossy and Almost Unavoidable

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, rally in Sunrise, Florida, October 29, 2008

The infomercial did not mention Republican opponent Senator John McCain, nor any issues or points the McCain-Palin campaign has raised. The focus was solely on what the Obama-Biden campaign had to offer to America.

Several people were interviewed, including the candidate’s wife, Michelle Obama and some high profile supporters including Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Google CEO Eric Schmidt. VP running mate, Senator Joe Biden was also featured in a brief profile outlining his blue collar roots and lifelong public service. The ad concluded with live video of Obama addressing a rally of some 20,000 people in Sunrise, Florida.

Barack Obama, rally in Sunrise, Florida, October 29, 2008

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, rally in Sunrise, Florida, October 29, 2008

Sixteen years ago, independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot, a billionaire businessman from Texas who financed his own campaign, famously ran several long TV ads–featuring little more than himself addressing viewers with the aid of pie-charts–during the 1992 election against his opponents, the incumbent President George H.W. Bush who lost to former President Bill Clinton.

Now in a different era when viewers have hundreds of TV channels and the Internet and many other viewing options, the question arises, how effective is such an approach? CNN interviewed Evan Tracey, director of the Campaign Media Analysis Group who offered his analysis of the TV spot which he estimated cost “in the $4 to 5 million range — at a minimum, $3.5 million.”

But, he said, spending the money is a “no-brainer” for the Democratic presidential hopeful.

“The strategic brilliance of this for Obama is that he is going to consume about 24 hours of the news cycle,” Tracey said. “It boxes [John] McCain in, takes the oxygen out of the room.”

Source: 30-minute Obama ad shows campaign muscle

The McCain campaign has responded in a statement from campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds emailed to reporters, “As anyone who has bought anything from an infomercial knows, the sales-job is always better than the product. Buyer beware.” The McCain campaign has also produced a TV commercial in response. See McCain Addresses Obama TV Special for text and video.

See also: Obama Infomercial Transcript

Photo credit: Getty Images North America

Obama Infomercial video – “American Stories, American Solutions”

Obama Infomercial live ending video – rally in Sunrise, Florida, 10-29-08

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