30-minute political ad entertaining, perhaps effective

Last night, my wife and I sat down and watched a 30-minute political campaign commercial. We did it voluntarily, and we found it interesting and entertaining.

Democrat Barack Obama, his campaign flush with money, bought the half hour of air time on broadcast and cable networks to present his case to voters. Regardless of how you feel about Obama and his policies, you have to admit that the video production was professional, well-written and -edited, persuasive and positive. As informercials go, it could hardly have been more effective. There were no attacks on opponents — not even a mention or veiled allusion to John McCain and Sarah Palin — just point-by-point explanations of Obama's key issues and his responses to those issues. The prerecorded video segued perfectly to the closing remarks at a live Obama campaign rally in Florida. That took some impressive timing.

As I watched the video, I kept thinking that this is how presidential candidates should present themselves to voters. Instead of all those snarly 30-second campaign commercials attacking their opponents, presidential candidates should take blocks of time to make their cases to American voters. No personal attacks, not even references to opponents, just simple, straightforward explanations of their views of the issues and their proposals to address them.

The Obama video, well written and entertainingly edited, was far more interesting (and perhaps more revealing) than the highly touted but disappointing presidential debates. Thirty minutes and some professional videography gave Obama a chance to make his case without the repetitions, smarmy moderators and carefully rehearsed catch phrases of the debates. Whether the Obama informercial moved voters or convinced doubtful independents, I don't know, and political analysts might never know for sure. But in a campaign that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on all manner of promotions, this $5 million or so looks like a good investment.

Don't expect 30-minute videos to replace debates or 30-second commercials, but the public and the candidates would be better off if they did.