MetaChat - "Country I Love".

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20 June 2008

"Country I Love". Regardless of one's opinion of Obama, I think most of us can agree that his ads, until now, had been remarkably well made. This latest one, his first in the general election campaign, seems to me to be pretty blunt and even downright corny. Is it just me?

post by: matteo at: 08:22 | 20 comments

I mean, this totally screams "HEY LOOK I HAVE WHITE RELATIVES! FORGIVE ME FOR GOING TO HARVARD! I HUG SWEET LITTLE OLD LADIES AND THEY HUG ME BACK!". I don't think the "yes, we can" ad was the best ever, but at least it wasn't this heavyhanded.

posted by matteo 20 June | 08:25

He needs every vote he can get and corn sells to some. I'll admit to a corny streak myself. Nobody said politics was pretty.

posted by jonmc 20 June | 08:26

There are many things people do not know about BARACK OBAMA. It is every American's duty to read this message and pass it along to all of their friends and loved ones.

posted by TheophileEscargot 20 June | 08:27

Barack's going to win the election anyway, mainly because the Bushes overstayed their welcome and fucked everything up and McCain comes across as doddering and out of touch (and the other Repub's don't like him much, which is why he's the sacrificial lamb, I think).

posted by jonmc 20 June | 08:32

At this stage, this is the kind of ad he needs to do - it's simple and focuses on the man as an ethical and dedicated worker for the people. The personal attacks on him are going to get worse and, unfortunately, those can have more sway with many voters than issues. With the exception of a few standouts, I don't expect political ads to be incredibly clever or entertaining. Obama has already won over most of the cool kids, now he needs to win over the masses.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 20 June | 08:34

And when I first saw this post, I thought the bolded link said "Courtney Love", and I was petrified when I saw "Obama" shortly after. I thought maybe she was on the new VP shortlist.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 20 June | 08:36

Nah - this ad is just fine. At worst, it's borderline boilerplate politician blather, but at it's best - it's a nice 20 second check-in from a candidate.

I may be a Obamabot, but for me, there is always something very personal in his ads, even these that are very pat and safe offerings. I genuinely get the feeling that Obama wants us as voters to know him on a bigger level than "vote Obama!". He seems a little more invested in the process than your typical pol.

Anyway, it's pretty neutral as far as Corn Award shenanigans go.

If this were McCain, I have a feeling it'd be drenched in tanks and flags and him with a fierce scowl on his mug, then lightened up with a McCain For President smile in front of someone's auntie.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 20 June | 09:04

What TheophileEscargot said. There is a massive amount of disinformation out there about Obama. A corny, heavy-handed ad, sure. But necessary.

He's presenting himself to the general election audience now, not the Democratic primary audience. Corniness might start cropping up.

posted by ibmcginty 20 June | 09:10

Always plays in the sticks.

posted by box 20 June | 09:19

After reading the Slate article: Barack Obama needs to be the new Chuck Norris.

posted by casarkos 20 June | 09:31

It seems corny and mainstream to me but I'm one of those crazy lefty urban Scion driving espresso drinkers. He's already got me. He's playing to the folks who's mother-in-law are emailing them scary forwards about Obamas kindergarten.

posted by octothorpe 20 June | 09:57

I think it's cool that he released this ad on Juneteenth.

posted by BoringPostcards 20 June | 10:03

I love corny political stuff ::sniff sniff: GOD BLESS AMERICA ::little sob::

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 20 June | 10:22

Not only is the ad directed at a general election audience, but it's specifically directed at some pretty red states: it's airing in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia.

Obama's aggressively advertising on McCain's turf, and he needs to moderate his message to appeal to the audience.

posted by kirkaracha 20 June | 13:12

Good thing those Indians taught us how to use corn.

posted by Hellbient 20 June | 13:14

little sob

That was uncalled for. I think you owe matteo an apology.

posted by Atom Eyes 20 June | 13:24

can't stop LOLing at Atom Eyes.

posted by taz 20 June | 13:52

I saw this ad last night. The minute Obama said "heartland" I knew it was targeted for the red states. I think the ad if fine. Although, every time I hear the word "heartland" Chevy trucks and John Cougar Mellencamp pop into my head.

posted by LoriFLA 20 June | 14:07

I'm just glad a Democrat is going to TRY for Georgia again. The party threw this state away in the last decade or so, which has pissed me off no end. Our current governor is the first Republican to be elected since the Reconstruction- large sections of this state will vote for Democrats and DOES (or used to), if they're just given the chance. This is a good ad for rural Georgia and won't piss off anybody in Atlanta... so it seems to work.

posted by BoringPostcards 20 June | 20:28

I grew up in Colorado and Wyoming and my folks live in New Mexico, and I can attest that this is exactly the kind of ad that will play well there (not that WY is in play this year, really, but CO and NM are actually both toss-ups, which is awesome). It may seem corny to plenty of us, but he knows what he's doing. I mean, my folks who live in NM will never vote for him -- after all, as Fox News reports, he is planning on giving a blow-job to the Iranian president after he takes the oath of office while standing on top of a fetus, not that the liberal mainstream press will report THE TRUTH! -- but I can see this working well with independents and moderate conservatives in that part of the country.

posted by scody 21 June | 16:45

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