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Ballot Box

The best political buzz from around the web

By Xana O'Neill

| Thursday, Oct 30, 2008 | Updated 8:57 AM CST

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Ballot Box

Barack Obama 's infomercial has been widely well-received. The 30-minute spot was impeccably produced and part of a full-court press that the Democratic ticket has unleashed this week. If nothing else, talk of Obama's commercial -- pre- and post- -- have effectively taken up another two days of media coverage with five days remaining until the election. Can McCain recover? Today's buzz:

Howard Wolfson wrote in the New Republic blog The Flack that the infomercial was a very effective closing argument that was well produced and effective in appealing to undecideds. Take-away: "At a time when the McCain campaign is doing everything it can to knock Sen. Obama off his game, it's another example of how and why that task is so difficult."
Obama's ad was slick but Billy Mays has more content when he's selling products on TV, wrote Cal Thomas in The Fox Forum. Take-away: "Barack Obama's expensive-looking infomercial was all about government and nothing about you."
Obama's polished infomercial was a heartfelt appeal to voters that told a story of despair that reverberates across the nation, wrote John Nichols in the Nation. Take-away: "Obama's commercial is a thirty-minute slice of an American story that was crying out to be told .. and that Barack Obama heard."
The infomercial was propagandistic in its effectiveness but it didn't backfire as many had feared it would, wrote Daniel Menaker in HuffPo. Take-away: "Barack Obama may be a New Man for a New Age -- I hope and even believe that he is -- but his way of winning this election, if he does, is sort of apotheosis of modern advertising and packaging and big-budget electioneering, with a touch of idolatrous fever."
Team McCain is relying on a lot more hope than Obama these days, wrote John Dickerson in Slate. The McCain camp -- and its pollster -- believe it's possible to pull off a W on Nov. 4, but are they crazy? Take-away: "In McCain's most optimistic scenario, he loses a few Republican states like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Iowa. He just has to hope that he doesn't lose too many of them."
What we've learned about McCain was that the infighting and poll numbers suggest is that he was unable to create a coherent philosophy and uninterested in managing a large enterprise, wrote David Broder in the WaPo. Take-away: "The shortcoming was intellectual as well as bureaucratic."