If a political advertisement starts with amber waves of grain, it’s got to be horribly cheesy, right? Somehow Barack Obama’s 30-minute infomercial, shown on seven networks Wednesday night, passed the schlock test: It was moving without being too sticky sweet. Obama, stepping out from behind a presidential-looking desk, and standing in an Oval Office-looking room, was our narrator for the evening, telling us about four struggling families (predictably, some were from swing states) and explaining how his policies would make life better for the featured families, and by extension, America as a whole.
Obama has proved many times he can draw a large audience in person. He proved on Wednesday he can draw a large television audience as well. Final Neilsen numbers show Obama’s commercial had 33.6 million viewers across the seven networks. (In contrast, the conclusion of the World Series that same night had 19.8 million viewers.)
Obama sounded like a candidate in the lead—he didn’t mention John McCain or his policies, and only made a couple of vague references to “the last eight years.” According to Obama, the country is suffering, but he is listening to peoples’ problems.
