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thatcrazycajunTonight, Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) used some of those great heaping gobs of campaign cash he's been collecting to buy half an hour of time on seven television networks for an "infomercial" to boost his campaign as it hits the home stretch. (One of the networks running it was Fox; how on God's green and pleasant Earth did they get that network's notoriously conservative Republican-backing owner, Rupert Murdoch, to allow this?) In case you missed it, CrooksAndLiars.com has been kind enough to link to an online copy of the video in its entirety here.
He could have (and, in Your Humble Correspondent's view, should have) used the time to debunk the ever-growing pile of lies, half-truths and distortions about his past, his policies, his beliefs and his record in office being spewed daily by his desperate, down-by-double-digits opponents, Sen. John McCain (AZ) and Gov. Sarah Palin (AK), and their allies in the Republican Party and elsewhere on the right. He could have decided to fight fire with fire and go on the attack, using the many perfectly legitimate criticisms that can be leveled at the two GOP nominees.
But perhaps knowing that his poll standings and fundraising progress, and McCain's floundering, mean he can afford to, he took the high road. Unlike the opposition, which is spending almost all its time these days telling you why you shouldn't vote for Obama instead of why you should vote for them, Obama chose to use his very expensive 30 minutes to reintroduce himself to America, saying who he is, why he's running and what he plans to do if elected, using as a framing device the stories of several ordinary American families whose lives, incomes and health are suffering under the reign of Mad King George and his minions. And it may well be far more effective in refuting the false portrait his opponents are trying to paint of him than any direct, aggressive refutation would have been.
It wasn't a pre-election Presidential address, as McCain tried to cast it in a speech today ("He's measuring the drapes and writing his first address to the nation already!"), but a classy, eloquent closing argument for his candidacy that only briefly and obliquely touched on "eight years of failed policies." And it closed with a live seven-minute segment from Florida, where Obama asked a crowd on site and the viewers at home to "make a few calls for me, knock on a few doors for me" and "stand with me" to "change this world."
In the old days, before Ronald Reagan and his cronies managed to eliminate that pesky "equal time" rule, such an extravaganza would have obligated the networks running it to give McCain the same half-hour's worth of time for his own message. But as it is, the best he could do was a 30-second ad in the beginning of the World Series game that followed the Obama show, harping yet again on the spurious charges that Obama wants to raise taxes and that "he's not ready." I never thought the day would come that I'd actually find myself glad that the old rules no longer apply.
He hit this one out of the park, folks. Let's all hope and pray he can do the same this coming Tuesday.
He could have (and, in Your Humble Correspondent's view, should have) used the time to debunk the ever-growing pile of lies, half-truths and distortions about his past, his policies, his beliefs and his record in office being spewed daily by his desperate, down-by-double-digits opponents, Sen. John McCain (AZ) and Gov. Sarah Palin (AK), and their allies in the Republican Party and elsewhere on the right. He could have decided to fight fire with fire and go on the attack, using the many perfectly legitimate criticisms that can be leveled at the two GOP nominees.
But perhaps knowing that his poll standings and fundraising progress, and McCain's floundering, mean he can afford to, he took the high road. Unlike the opposition, which is spending almost all its time these days telling you why you shouldn't vote for Obama instead of why you should vote for them, Obama chose to use his very expensive 30 minutes to reintroduce himself to America, saying who he is, why he's running and what he plans to do if elected, using as a framing device the stories of several ordinary American families whose lives, incomes and health are suffering under the reign of Mad King George and his minions. And it may well be far more effective in refuting the false portrait his opponents are trying to paint of him than any direct, aggressive refutation would have been.
It wasn't a pre-election Presidential address, as McCain tried to cast it in a speech today ("He's measuring the drapes and writing his first address to the nation already!"), but a classy, eloquent closing argument for his candidacy that only briefly and obliquely touched on "eight years of failed policies." And it closed with a live seven-minute segment from Florida, where Obama asked a crowd on site and the viewers at home to "make a few calls for me, knock on a few doors for me" and "stand with me" to "change this world."
In the old days, before Ronald Reagan and his cronies managed to eliminate that pesky "equal time" rule, such an extravaganza would have obligated the networks running it to give McCain the same half-hour's worth of time for his own message. But as it is, the best he could do was a 30-second ad in the beginning of the World Series game that followed the Obama show, harping yet again on the spurious charges that Obama wants to raise taxes and that "he's not ready." I never thought the day would come that I'd actually find myself glad that the old rules no longer apply.
He hit this one out of the park, folks. Let's all hope and pray he can do the same this coming Tuesday.
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 01:27 am (UTC)Which is very odd. Because it almost feels like an endorsement. "He'd be good with a tad more seasoning."
Law Correction
Date: 2008-10-30 02:55 am (UTC)No, and the equal time rule still exists, because it is mandated by Section 312 and 315 of the Communications Act. Each network is required to give McCain the same opportunity to buy an ad at the same rate and on the same terms. Trust me, we at MAP have litigated the equal access provisions every election cycle. Every election cycle, some broadcaster thinks it has a way to beat the equal access provisions. They don't.
What Mark Fowler (Reagan's FCC Chair) eliminated was the fairness doctrine.
Re: Law Correction
Date: 2008-10-30 04:01 am (UTC)Re: Law Correction
Date: 2008-10-30 09:36 pm (UTC)The Fowler FCC eliminated this "equal time" obligation, finding that it had caused broadcasters to avoid covering controversial issues and that the market would ensure adequate coverage of opposing views. Many have argued the growth of conservative talk radio was a direct result of this appeal (I'm not entirely convinced myself). For reasons you can read in this old blog post of mine, the political editorial rule and personal attack rule were not eliminated until 2000.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 11:02 am (UTC)Lots of Uncle Sam's green and pleasant money.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 09:41 pm (UTC)http://www.techlawjournal.com/election/19990907ads.htm
no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 08:46 pm (UTC)