At Last! I figure out how to embed video!

Here is an analysis of 4 recent campaign ads, one negative and one positive for each candidate.



The Obama ad on McCain health plan is a brilliant piece. It begins with the visual associations of Bush, McCain and the disgraced financial companies the caused the current economic mess. In a welcome change, Obama then offers a suggestion of what is was that Bush and McCain agreed on: the Deregulation of the Banking industry. This is substance, assuming it is true that the current crisis is the fault of deregulation. (For a reality check on that, see yesterdays WSJ editorial page- which unfortunately is not available for free online). What I particularly like about this ad is the creativity the Obama team displayed in connecting the current turmoil in the markets with McCain healthcare proposal. They did not simply blame McCain for the crisis, they used it to debunk his entire theory of government. Nice.



This ad is effective on several levels. Topically, it deals with the very specific policy flip-flop by the Obama Biden camp on coal plants. However, like Obama did with deregulation and health care, it threads this minor issue into the larger narrative the McCain campaign is trying to construct: that Obama is a politician of opportunity. This ad is an attempt to case Obama as a politician of opportunity whose policies are driven by polls and not principals. Central to this claim is that Obama will say different things to different people in order to please them. A second narrative the ad plays into is that Obama is not ready to lead. The fact Obama and his running mate are caught saying different things lends a sense of disorganization to the campaign. The music and visuals are particularly suited to this last end: the up-tempo music contributes a sense of hilarity to the entire enterprise, and Obama and Biden look... clueless. A nice touch: the grainy footage of Obama and Biden talking serves to portray them as amateurs.



This is fairly typical positive ad. First we have the problem- oil dependence- complete with the nervous images and threatening colors. Then we have the solution- John McCain- this time with happy music and bright colors. The cherry on top is the sun rising at the end.



Again, this ad has all the normal charachteristics of a positive campaign ad: The Disney music, the presidential looking images of the candidate. The one peculiarity is that Obama shades himself in black and white. Normally, this is a tactic used to convey a negative image. So what is Obama thinking? Most likely, that the black and white shading connotes a certain level of seriousness. This works to affront those who trivialize Obama's run for the presidency.