Obama Airs 30-Minute Ad On Primetime National TV [VIDEO]

Sen. Barack Obama spent $4 million to air a 30-minute advertisement during primetime television, with visual appeals to suburban and rural, white, middle-class voters. (Bloomberg) Cameo endorsements came from Governors Ted Strickland (Ohio), Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas), Bill Richardson (N.M.), Tim Kaine (Va.); Senator Claire McCaskill; running-mate Joe Biden; and Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt, in the Davis Guggenheim-produced film.

Obama outlined his middle-class ‘rescue plan’ and policies for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care and energy, in between vignettes with four middle-class American families (two white, one Latino, one retired African-American couple in a rural suburb) in swing states. It ended with a highly-synchronized, live, 2-minute conclusion at a Floriday rally.

In a one-day tour de force, Obama also did an interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson, a taped piece on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, rallies in Pennsylvania and Florida, and a finale appearance with Bill Clinton at an Orlando rally.

Recommended reviews of the infomercial:

• 30-minute Obama ad shows campaign muscle (CNN)
• A Very Special Obama (National Review)
• Obama’s prime-time ad skips over budget realities (AP)
• Obama goes prime-time; McCain goes after Obama (AP)
• Obama introduces himself one last time (Salon)
• The Informercial (The New Republic), Money Well Spent (The New Republic), Obama’s Chick Flick? (The New Republic)
• Obama makes final case in supersize ad (Politico)
• Obama Infomercial a Virtuoso Performance, by George Stephanopoulos (ABC News, video)