Third Long-Form Obama Ad Released: Boring, and That’s the Point

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Obama is continuing his run of long-form TV ads in which he speaks directly to the camera about the financial crisis — his third effort clocks in at two minutes long. Here are ads one and two.

Take a look at the link above. I tuned out at 0:42. When did you tune out? (Believe me, you’ll tune out.) I’m starting to believe that tuning out is the point. The other day I was watching TV with a friend when one of the earlier long-form Obama ads came on. We were about halfway through when my friend yelled at the television in frustration, “Okay, I get it! You know what you’re talking about!”

And that was with the volume turned down.

Obama is presenting himself as the boring choice in this financial crisis. To the extent that boring correlates with responsible, adult, and steady, Obama wins. And with Obama’s poll numbers looking the way they are, that appears to be a correlation worth betting on.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

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