Obama Delivers Prime Time Pitch to the Nation
Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama delivered a three-network prime time pitch to the nation, offering often somber profiles of struggling Americans and his plans to help them, and didn't delay the World Series to do it.
The campaign paid $1 million each to CBS, NBC and Fox to deliver a message focused on average Americans' economic woes. It included real people struggling to pay for mortgages, groceries and health care bills and a brief speech to a Florida audience, where he was joined by running mate Joe Biden.
"Together we will change this country and change the world," Obama said in his speech, to end the broadcast.
Besides the broadcast networks, the ad also aired on Spanish-language network Univision, and cable channels including Black Entertainment Television and TV One. The ad was the first paid, national political telecast of its kind since independent candidate Ross Perot broke out his charts for a prime time talk with viewers in 1992.
Obama's Republican rival, John McCain, who appeared earlier Wednesday on Larry King Live, had mocked Obama's ad buy in recent speeches.
"No one will delay the World Series with an infomercial when I'm president," he told audiences.
But Obama's broadcast didn't end up disrupting the resumption of Game 5, which was stopped because of rain Monday. Fox executives said they had asked for the start time, and none of the previous games this year have started before 8:30 pm ET.
The teams, the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, are from key battleground states.
ABC didn't carry the speech, instead running its regularly scheduled 8 pm broadcast of Pushing Daisies.
Obama also found time Wednesday to drop in for his fourth Daily Show appearance.
Did you watch the ad? Did it make you more or less likely to vote for Obama?
