After claiming for months that he was not campaigning, Obama has just released, you guessed it, a campaign ad for the 2012 election.
Given, I'm not a huge fan of Obama at this point, so my view might be overly pessimistic, but I don't think the ad is very good. In fact, I'd argue the rationale behind the ad is almost delusional.
For the ad to make sense it assumes that there is still a huge investment of hope in Obama. That people haven't given up on him for the most part.
The statistics however argue that they have given up, with his approval rating lower than every other president except Carter and in recent polls of Occupy Wall Street protesters, 60 per cent of them voted for Obama yet 73 per cent of those voters now disapprove of the job Obama is doing.
The ad will resonate with hardcore Obama supporters, since they would take anyone over another republican after what Bush put the country through. Yet, that's a very small base of people to create an ad for.
As it pertains to the general public, I'd almost argue the ad works against Obama. Because he's actively and visually getting people to remember all the hope and joy people had back in 2008, which is a stark contrast to their current view of the economy and their politicians. In fact, the very same crowd that was cheering him on is most likely the crowd that is now marching in protest.
It's tantamount to revisiting old picture albums after a divorce and assuming that one will remember old times with fondness. My assumption is most people who get divorced what to forget about old memories and stick said pictures in the back of the closet somewhere, because looking at them only depresses them.
That's essentially what Obama's ad does for the many American's who had such hope for him and who now feel like he's definitely 'not the one' they've been waiting for.
It's just bad PR to remind people that you once promised them a five-course, five-star meal when all you actually delivered to them was a Big Mac and fries.
What Obama should have done in his ad - and mind you, it's very hard for him to do anything effectively because his record speaks louder than any ad he creates - would have been to emphasize his jobs plan. Hammer home that he's the only candidate with a jobs bill on the table ready to go. While he's been doing this in his press conferences, he should have done it in the ad as well.
The reality is that come election time he absolutely must be seen as the 'jobs' president or he's done. Unless of course the US goes to war with Iran, then, just like Bush and the Iraq wars, voters will be very hesitant to change horses in the middle of a war. Yet, barring various war-scenarios, he must be seen as a the jobs president or it's over.
The hope and faith that he clearly thinks people still have for him, is not out there. What it has been replaced with are people who are now convinced that no politician is working for them and as such they've taken to the streets in protest.
Given, I'm not a huge fan of Obama at this point, so my view might be overly pessimistic, but I don't think the ad is very good. In fact, I'd argue the rationale behind the ad is almost delusional.
For the ad to make sense it assumes that there is still a huge investment of hope in Obama. That people haven't given up on him for the most part.
The statistics however argue that they have given up, with his approval rating lower than every other president except Carter and in recent polls of Occupy Wall Street protesters, 60 per cent of them voted for Obama yet 73 per cent of those voters now disapprove of the job Obama is doing.
The ad will resonate with hardcore Obama supporters, since they would take anyone over another republican after what Bush put the country through. Yet, that's a very small base of people to create an ad for.
As it pertains to the general public, I'd almost argue the ad works against Obama. Because he's actively and visually getting people to remember all the hope and joy people had back in 2008, which is a stark contrast to their current view of the economy and their politicians. In fact, the very same crowd that was cheering him on is most likely the crowd that is now marching in protest.
It's tantamount to revisiting old picture albums after a divorce and assuming that one will remember old times with fondness. My assumption is most people who get divorced what to forget about old memories and stick said pictures in the back of the closet somewhere, because looking at them only depresses them.
That's essentially what Obama's ad does for the many American's who had such hope for him and who now feel like he's definitely 'not the one' they've been waiting for.
It's just bad PR to remind people that you once promised them a five-course, five-star meal when all you actually delivered to them was a Big Mac and fries.
What Obama should have done in his ad - and mind you, it's very hard for him to do anything effectively because his record speaks louder than any ad he creates - would have been to emphasize his jobs plan. Hammer home that he's the only candidate with a jobs bill on the table ready to go. While he's been doing this in his press conferences, he should have done it in the ad as well.
The reality is that come election time he absolutely must be seen as the 'jobs' president or he's done. Unless of course the US goes to war with Iran, then, just like Bush and the Iraq wars, voters will be very hesitant to change horses in the middle of a war. Yet, barring various war-scenarios, he must be seen as a the jobs president or it's over.
The hope and faith that he clearly thinks people still have for him, is not out there. What it has been replaced with are people who are now convinced that no politician is working for them and as such they've taken to the streets in protest.
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