Wanna know why the 30-minute show tonight is a good idea?

[scheming daemons]

Because conservatives are completely apoplectic about it.

Anything that has them up in arms and acting scared out of their wits is a GOOD thing.



I guarantee you that, if he wasn't so broke, McCain would kill to have 30 minutes of prime time unfiltered access to the public.


No voice overs by pundits.

No commercials.

No "breaking away" for another story.

No spin by conservatives.



Just Obama saying what he wants to say... directly to the American people, in the manner he wants to say it.


It will dominate the news coverage tonight, and for most of tomorrow. Obama will have stolen 1/4 of the remaining news cycle time from McCain.

That alone makes it worthwhile.


All the "worry warts" on DU and other places right now will be back in here tonight at 8:31pm with a bunch of "OMG! That was incredible!" threads.

Watch.

[badacid]

1. I agree

I think it's a pretty good move by Obama. This will dominate news shows for at least the next 2-3 days. It will be played over and over by local news shows taking more time away from John McCain's response on Larry King Live.
*Edit - Also, it will lower the chances of McCain changing the minds of voters with any other smear tactic released before November 4th.*

McCain's response will be played, but not with as much fervor as Obama's (I would think).

My hopes are that he comes out and identifies -
a) His plans for the economy
b) His plans for Healthcare
c) His plans for the wars with Iraq and Afghanistan

This will be a chance for him to provide the information unfettered by the news (As the OP suggested).

He won't have to hope that his message doesn't get spoiled/spun by either side of the media.

[hisownpetard]

6. Your 1st post! Wow.

And a hearty welcome to DU!

[Betsy Ross]

12. I'm having bad acid too.

Nervous stomach awaiting the election? Or did you mean some other kind of acid?

Welcome to DU. Note that you may have to be a donor to get to DU election night.

[movonne]

16. A good first post..

[sallyseven]

2. I can remember that networks use to give

30 minutes to each campaign free for them to talk to the people. It was a few years ago but I remember it. It isn't a new idea It is only that Obama has someone on his staff that did the research. McCain ran a shitty campaign and is so arrogant that he thinks he should be given the office no questions asked. I remember Nixon and Kennedy had the 30 minutes.

[livetohike]

4. I remember that too

If McCain had the money, he would be doing this. Those that say it will hurt Obama....I don't see how, when all they have to do is change the channel :shrug:.

[Median Democrat]

3. So, John McCain, Is Obama Measuring The Drapes Or Is He Still Fighting For Votes?

Because a $3 million dollar ad buy kind of suggests that Obama isn't phoning this one in. Dontcha think?

[BlooInBloo]

5. And then the next slightly out-of-the-ordinary thing Obama does, they'll be right back at it...

Regaling us with the majesty of their fucking stupid concern.

[msallied]

7. Maybe the undecided focus group inbreeds will finally shut up too.

Or maybe I'm becoming a little too optimistic for my own good...

[Hokie]

8. We think alike

I just said essentially the same thing in another thread.

[rucky]

9. Anything that twists their knickers is worth it.

[Betsy Ross]

10. What time will the Barack Obama half-hour be broadcast?

Local listings say 8:00 PDT but that puts it after KO. Do I have to watch it on-line, if available, to be able to following the post event commentaries?

[codjh9]

11. I agree - anything that makes them angry, I'm FOR. Hugo Chavez may be half-crazy, but

when I first heard of him, and heard him dissing W, I thought 'yeah, GO, buddy'. :^)

[SuperTrouper]

13. It will dominate 48 hours of news cycle and he may have a bounce

of about 2-3 points which will show on the Friday and Saturday polls...that is why McCain is so desperate because Friday his fate is sealed...

[abbiehoff]

14. It's a good idea because

people who are genuinely undecided may very well decide to watch it (at least they should).

I am going to call my mother and suggest that she watch it. She has always been a Republican, but she did comment to me this summer that she couldn't imagine anyone voting for John McCain.

Her father (my grandfather), who was born in the 19th century, was a Republican in the way of Abe Lincoln. My mother was brought up to be a Republican, and is now quite old (85). I don't think she's been particularly aware of what has happened to her party. In her youth, the Republicans were the good guys and the Democrats were the racists. I hope if she watches the program this evening, she will gain some insights.

[Life Long Dem]

15. Money well spent!

The media is out of line to question Obama's campaign strategy. Instead they need to shut their little pea-holes and take lessons from Obama.

[Avalux]

17. I agree it's a good move - can do nothing but help Obama.

He gets the chance to speak without interruption about his plans for this country. That's why the pukes are going nuts - they know that much time to speak and make SENSE on national TV will have an impact.

[Condem]

18. Every (well,almost) Phillie and Ray fan will be watching...

Can't hurt in those states.

[Essene]

19. I think he must do the following or it risks giving Mccain fodder

Let me first say... im already 99.9999% convinced he will win. People really dont like prime time being interrupted. This is a big risk, although i suspect the time was purchased so that they'd have the flexibility to react to whatever was going on in the final days.

So...

The risk is that the CONTENT gets drowned out by the polemics about the "infomercial" aspect of it during prime time.

The Obama campaign is concerned with voter turn-out, so that has to be an objective of the content. Whatever heartstrings are touched, it must seek to snap people out of paralysis and into a sense of hope... into a sense that voting is really important.

The Obama campaign should go on the offensive in terms of clarifying and repeating the basic commitment of his economic and tax plans, without it turning into a boring policy infomercial (that WILL make people hate it).

It cannot be a 30 minute political ad that just reviews all his policy agendas. It cannot. People will hate that.

Most importantly...

This has to be SPECIAL. Something unexpected. Something provocative. Something that gets people talking for 2 days. Again, it cannot be a 30 minute political policy exposition. This has to be PRIME TIME TELEVISION.

This last point is crucial.

If this 30 minute thing is unexpected and really powerful TELEVISION... then it can derail all the other topics right now and effectively put an end to the Mccain campaign. Obama may not gain a lot of votes, but it will help tremendously.

If it fails to reach that bar... it will feed whatever nonsense the Mccain/Fox crowd is pushing in the next few days.

[eshfemme]

20. So true. Obama needs to grab people's attentions to make them listen

He can't just regurgitate a stump speech or the same things he's been saying (which he does all the time and is good for being so consistent) but this ad buy is too special to warrant a standard campaign treatment.

So your points are really true. But I'm pretty sure that Obama's thinking is the same on those points and I'm hoping that they will pull this off.