This is a great ad in so many ways: substantively it hits the particular stupid policy and shows Obama's specific proposals (see, he does have them), and then folds it all into his overarching argument. Cosmetically, he's at his best, the crowd is great, the music hits just the right note...perfect. They should use this template a LOT.

Posted at May 1, 2008 2:13 AM in response to Here's Obama's Ad Pushing Back On Hilllary's "Gas Tax Holiday" Hit

Oh, gosh, Michael, will you marry me? (I'll even overlook your elitist, unpatiotic misspelling of "willikers"...)

Posted at April 3, 2008 3:06 PM in response to P.S. I Lama You

And btw, I don't understand the assumption that Greg saw this as a negative story -- personally I think it's fine (and was grateful for the opening to post my own two cents' worth of advice to the church and the campaign, above). If the folks at The Daily Kos can be working to cut the knee-jerk campaign nastiness (and they are), surely the rest of us can take a chill pill as well. We'll need everyone come November.

Posted at April 3, 2008 3:03 PM in response to Senior Obama Adviser Asked Top Public Relations Firm To Help Wright's Church

Good, for the church and the campaign. Here's what I've been wanting to see: a counter-video of sermon excerpts found by all the reporters and oppo researchers as they feverishly (and evidently unsuccessfully) searched for more incendiary snippets, which were presumably rejected as not being "newsworthy." There must be more than enough for a far longer video loop than the one we've been endlessly subjected to. They can start with the 5-second clip Nightline used for their Obama post-speech interview package, which is the only instance I'm aware of when anyone's shown anything but the same few awful bits. Pressure the nets to correct the distorted impression of what Obama typically heard from the pews over those 20 years.

I'm sure there are plenty of anecdotes and writings as well -- Obama shared an effective one on (yes, I actually watched it) The View -- and they should be disseminated and repeated relentlessly. But with sound and image now so firmly embedded in people's psyches, this is definitely a job for video.

Posted at April 3, 2008 1:53 PM in response to Senior Obama Adviser Asked Top Public Relations Firm To Help Wright's Church

And oddly, the one who was only suspended was the one who supposedly snooped on McCain...Time was, I'd have scoffed at anyone who theorized that, say, the McCain move was a deliberate smokescreen to disguise the latest in the great tradition of political snoopage; I miss that time...

Posted at March 21, 2008 1:54 PM in response to State Department Official: Clinton and McCain Passport Files Breached

Exactly; and as for the remedy, why didn't any disenfranchised teachers simply request to be allowed to caucus in the school they were being required to assist in? Shame on any Democrat who's pushing this...

Posted at January 16, 2008 12:13 PM in response to Let the People Vote

Gee, didn't notice... :)

Posted at January 9, 2008 1:10 PM in response to If I Vote for Obama, It'll Be Because....

If I got the right thing up on Google (Amendment 3017), the tally was 76-22; had to be lots of Dems voting "aye" (which is why the rallying cry is "more and better Democrats...).

Posted at January 9, 2008 10:34 AM in response to If I Vote for Obama, It'll Be Because....

Assume you meant "generational"...and I take great comfort from that, which confirms my sense of things in general. The younger you are, the less race (like sexuality) seems to matter. Plenty of exceptions to that, of course; we're not a social utopia yet...but very heartening.

Posted at January 9, 2008 10:22 AM in response to If I Vote for Obama, It'll Be Because....

Dan K, didn't we like Ike? Didn't we want Harry to give 'em hell? (Never mind Rudy and Lamar!...)

I'd suggest that the Clinton support you're bemoaning is simply an immediate reaction to the truly disgusting and just plain nutty coverage she's been getting, which would be broadly seen as such if the target had been, sorry, male (and trust me, I NEVER play the "gender card"). It's quite likely that her substantive drawbacks will ultimately prevail with voters; they do with me. But I have to say if I'd been a NH voter I might well have voted for her just as a way to tell the media to knock it off already, knowing we're still at the very beginning of this race. (And we're better off with a real race anyway; I want our candidate to have been tested, tested, tested before they face what the Republicans will be throwing at them.)

Posted at January 9, 2008 10:16 AM in response to If I Vote for Obama, It'll Be Because....