This ad is sending a strategic message with word choice. Bold words like “bailouts,” takeovers,” and “spending spree” emphasize what this administration has already delivered. Describing the proposed health care reform as a “risky experiment” purposefully concerns viewers. Experiment implies a trial of something new to determine whether or not it works. Experimenting with a policy that will affect 267 million Americans and cost trillions of dollars is dangerous. No one wants their health care to be put in jeopardy by a reckless reform that took just months to put together but will be affecting us for decades to come.

The ad is being broadcast in Arkansas, Nevada, and North Dakota; the video is also available at BarackObamaExperiment.com

The RNC runs the website designed to raise opposition to Obama’s health care reform. The site allows visitors to share the link through social networking sites, it provides phone numbers to radio political talk shows, it provides sample letters to send to newspapers, and it encourages people to contact their elected officials, even providing talking points on the opposition.

It’s beginning to be an all-out campaign against Obama’s government-run health insurance plan. And separating this campaign from the RNC’s website makes the issues less about partisan politics and more about the issue at hand. As the health care debate heats up, we can anticipate seeing a lot more ads like this.

 
The video exposes the pitfalls of goverment-run health care. The ad hits on three major issues people are concerned with: Americans losing their rights to choose a doctor, medical procedures taking much longer to receive, and the plan prohibiting patients from paying for better medication even if it’s out of their own pockets.
 
The beginning phone call recording successfully plays on the overall decline of customer service in this country. People used to have a personal relationship with their doctor; now it looks as if health care in this country will revolve around automated answering services and civil servants rather than personal care and medical professionals. And the end, “disconnecting now, good-bye,” suggests the plan’s general disregard for the individual.
 
It will be interesting to see how the Democrats respond, but we may be on hold for a while.

Already, Obama’s communications team has produced a series of videos showing Obama at various events leading up to the inauguration.

These videos are shot on a high end / HD camera and are edited with excellent skill, as they reveal what appears to be a glimpse  behind the scenes of the Obama’s movements.  The best videos so far feature the Whistle Stop Tour and the Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Obama Team’s emphasis on video coverage, with almost instantaneous posting to their YouTube channel, conveys a greater sense of access that is in line with their message of change through transparency.

Kudos….The videos look great.

Now, Barack Obama has this new spot attacking McCain for his cars – all 13 of them.  Airing in Michigan, which actually makes sense.

MI “Foreign Vehicles” Ad

This is another example that the Obama campaign decided to shed the cute and funny spots and replace them with traditional attack ads that center around crystal clear message delivery.

Unfortunately, I do not have a brightcove player so you can see the spot through the link below.

“What Kind”

For decades, foreign policy, military and security issues have been a perceived weakness for national Democrats – an achilles heal, if you will.  Also, national security and dealing with outside threats of terrorism or war have been a largely solidifying issue for religious conservatives and more fiscal libertarian Republicans.

The Cold War under Reagan and Bush’s unmovable determination to root out terrorism kept Republicans together under one issue they can all agree on.  After the Cold War ended Republicans began to splinter.  Social Conservatives and small government Capitalist Libertarians woke up and decided they didn’t have much in common with each other anymore.  

Under Bush 43, Republicans began to unify again in perfect harmony, first for their mutual abhorrence for Bill Clinton, then with their shared belief that, after 9/11, terrorists would not be tolerated abroad under any circumstance.

As the the war in Iraq began to wane in media exposure, as a result of better military leadership and more pressing domestic issues, we began to see grumbling within the GOP by fiscal libertarians, who were outraged by the notion of Republican members of Congress spending like drunk sailors and the perception that social conservatives had more weight within the party.

Now, as John McCain has found his voice, gained momentum, and as he begins to to make his case to the voters of the United States, we are seeing the makings of a foreign policy appeal within the framework of-  ”is Obama ready to lead?” – theme.

McCain can keep Social Conservatives and Fiscal Republicans on board together, against Obama, if they see him as weak on Iran, the next perceived threat to America’s existence.  This will allow McCain to maintain and grow his base, driving up overall Republican support, while also appealing to Independents and soft Democrats that turn to Republican candidates in times of threat and crisis.  

The McCain camp has vigorously, and successfully, set-up the argument within the framework of the ongoing questioning surrounding Obama’s experience and leadership skills through a series of hard-hitting spots and web videos.

Now the McCain campaign releases this spot, titled “Tiny.”  Which takes the message to a new more critical level – effectively striking into the key emotion of fear.

The original spot centered around two actors, who effectively portrayed an average working class couple, distraught by the flawed healthcare system which was then being touted by first-lady Hillary Rodham Clinton .  The spot became the focal point of the opposition’s message, which effectively derailed Clinton’s socialized healthcare reform agenda.

This time conveying a somewhat different message, the couple engages in another discussion on healthcare, this time encouraging John McCain and Barack Obama to make healthcare reform a center of their message for America:

The spot will air through both conventions on a variety of cable and broadcast media. It is intended to influence both party’s leaders and policy makers expected to visit Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul media markets over the next three weeks.

See the original Harry and Louise spot after the jump

The original spot can be seen here:

Both spots were paid for by a coalition led by the National Federation of Independent Business.

The Harry and Louise spots are rare for political advertising.  Rarely do you see real actors used in campaigns and not many as effective at pushing a message as these. Normally, campaigns attempt to utilize real life voters or constituents to hammer home a message in support or against a candidate.  There are several reasons why this is the case:

1. Real people come cheap compared to actors – actually most real live voters do not cost anything.  This helps keep production costs low for campaigns with limited budgets
2. Real people tend to convey a sense of shared feeling by average voters.  This is the same reason why reality television is still thriving.  People tend to connect more with people they feel are not  scripted like a polished actor or actress.
3. Real People have an easier time projecting themselves on voters that look or act like themselves.  This shared experience helps to persuade a voter into believing that their support or opposition to something is common to people just like them – so its ok.
4. Actors also open a line of attack up by an opponent who could accuse them of using paid people to tout their message – begging the question whether or not real people actually do share the sentiment being conveyed.
5. Similarly, real voters or constituents can not be attacked by an opponent.  Attacking an average voter expressing a point of view, no mater how emphatic, is political suicide.  Real life surrogates are protected from such attacks, which allow a message to be conveyed while minimizing counter messaging.   

Twenty years later, hard at work in Seattle, Brown is working to produce an Obama version of the Dukakis ad. He was interviewed last week by the Seattle Times. 

“I’m going to go dig up the information that the mainstream media is scared of, the McCain campaign finds difficult to deal with, and may make some people feel uncomfortable,” Brown said.

Brown is releasing an ad on his Web site and YouTube every other week and is spreading his message through mass mailers and phone banks. Galleys of his new book, “Obama Unmasked,” are stacked in the barren office he’s renting through November.

Despite modest funding, mainly from online donors, Brown’s efforts have been singled out by the Obama campaign as a prime example of the dangers the candidate faces from attacks by independent groups. 

While the ‘88 Horton ad cost $100,000, Brown is producing everything today on his laptop. While controversial, here are two of his spots that would have the ability to move poll numbers :

 

“They Died in Chicago…”

 

and “Learn Spanish”

 

Connor Walsh contributed to this post.

The Financial Times

Mark McKinnon, media strategist, former McCain adviser who worked for both Bush campaigns, added:

I think they’ve crystallised their message and I think they’re hitting a nerve.

Political advertising is effective, he added, when it ties into an overall narrative. In this case, the message has been framed in a positive and negative way: that Mr McCain puts “country first”, while Mr Obama puts “Obama first”. The theme was repeated in a McCain advertisement released on Wednesday, showing flashing cameras and crowds chanting “Obama” as a voice asks, “Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?

According to other sources, the Obama campaign is having a difficult time responding to this line of attack. It appears, allowing Obama to create the uber-personality image has exposes his weakness in substance and the ability to connect on the most important issues affecting Americans.

Since the Celeb Ad broke, the insiders in Washington grumbled and poured on the negative.  In this space and in other discussions I have been a strong supporter of this line of attack.  It’s success derives from a three part tactic:

• Hand Obama the personality campaign
• Put him on the defensive by calling it superficial
• Then forcing the discussion around issues, where McCain has a position of strength

IRA TEINOWITZ

According to Teinowitz:

The McCain campaign made a last-minute $6 million ad buy, which tops the $5 million Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign announced last month it was buying during the Olympic Games, which begin Aug. 8. 

Like the Obama team’s ad buy, the McCain campaign’s purchase includes network and cable spots. NBC Universal is airing 3,600 hours of Olympics coverage on its broadcast network and cable networks including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network, Oxygen and Telemundo. 

Teinowitz quotes, EVAN TRACEY, chief operating officer of the Campaign Media Analysis Group at TNS Media Intelligence as speculating that:

“the McCain campaign, which is accepting federal funds for the general campaign, made the last-minute buy to use up money it raised for the primary season. That money can’t be spent after the Republican National Convention, which is being held the first week in September.”