Tonight, both presidential candidates were seen by millions of voters on television. One paid about three million dollars for the airtime and the other got it for free. Barack Obama’s special aired on seven networks and cable television stations at eight o’clock. At nine, John McCain was interviewed on Larry King Live.
Although our decision has already been made, we watched both events. I noticed some striking contrasts between the candidates messages. Granted, the format was totally different. One was a professionally produced piece and the other was an interview, although not very hard hitting.
Obama’s special was a mix of background information about the candidate’s family and childhood and information about his plans for the country, if he is elected president. Stories of Americans in communities across the country struggles with issues such as health care, job loss, rising costs and lost wages and education. After each profile, Obama spoke about the issue and gave specific examples of what he would do as president.
One thing that resonated with me early on was that Obama did not mention John McCain’s name. There was no direct attack on McCain, but there were a few references to the mistakes of the last eight years. I think this was a brilliant move on the part of the Obama campaign. He looked calm, in control, above the fray and very presidential.
When the show was over, we switched to CNN to watch McCain on Larry King Live. From the beginning, there was a striking contrast. Although McCain made a reference to creating jobs and said his tax structure would remain the same, he gave no information or specifics about what he will do, if he is elected president.
Rather than spending his time talking specifics or laying out his plan and telling voters why it is better, he chose to attack Obama. He drug up an old story from 2003 about a professor and co worker of Obama’s. McCain claims the guy is a spokesman for the PLO and anti Israel and that Obama shares these beliefs. Fact checkers on CNN are already calling the claims outright false.
There is already criticism on CNN and from John McCain in the Larry King interview about the money spent on the campaign. Personally, I prefer this approach and would rather see more of this than endless attack ads. McCain says he doesn’t have much money left, but he is saturating the airwaves in Pennsylvania with attack ads against Obama. Today, they were running at six per hour and this is just one part of one swing state.
His money would be better spent on his own television special. Not one of these ads offers specifics about what he will do, but all are negative and many are veiled attempts to induce fear in the voters of this state. He may be doing better if he spent his time laying out a plan and showing some evidence that it is different than Bush, as he claims.
I would prefer both candidates purchase fifteen or thirty minute blocks of time and spend it actually talking about what they will do. It would offer more information for undecided voters to base their decision than spending millions tearing down the opponent. Whether or not the special helps bump Obama’s numbers remains to be seen. Polls show many Americans agree, as most say they are tired of the campaign ads. What do you think?