(Both articles from 11/15/07)
New Obama Ad: ‘Chances I Had’
New York Times Political blog
Julie Bosman
(commercial here)
Summary:
On November 16th, Obama released a 30 second commercial in New Hampshire and “gets tough with parents” on education. Obama wants parents to instill a “sense of excellence” in their children and to turn off the TV. His plan includes early childhood education and teacher recruitment. Obama describes his childhood, saying that his parent’s weren’t very rich, and his father was never around. The one thing he got was a good education, and he wants to give at least that opportunity to today’s youth. (Video of commercial here).
Significance:
Obama in this video humanizes himself with photos of his childhood. Using himself as an example, he connects with the audience, uses pathos and plays off of the sympathy of the people. An important fact is that the time and place of this commercial is in New Hampshire, now. He is preparing for the New Hampshire primary. This could definitely be beneficial, if not essential to getting barrack Obama some momentum in the polls.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20071115_Letters___A_bad_rap_for_Obama.html
Letters to the editor: Philadelphia Daily news
Letters A bad rap for Obama
By Becki Brumback
Summary:
In this letter, the author comments on an article by Bruce Crawley. This statement By Crawley is “Barack Obama has… Avoided dealing with black issues or saying the word black”.
The Becki thinks this is a “gross misinterpretation” and that it is similar to the “is he black enough?” question imposed on Barack. Crawley also said that “Barack presents no benefits flowing back to the black community”. Becki thinks that the African American Community should be insulted by this statement. Becki, as a white supporter of Obama, says, “I am not getting any benefit that I am aware of other than supporting a candidate I feel strongly about. Focusing on “black” issues would be bad politics and governance. The aforementioned approached has been tried by others (such as Jesse Jackson) and has not worked.
Significance:
I agree with this letter, on the note that Barack should not use the race card is a positive thing. He needs to appeal to the overall public, and deal with ALL political issues, not things like his ethnicity, which has no effect on his ability to run nation. He focuses on issues like the economy (and poverty) that and social inequality which will positively benefit those who are in need of those reforms, both black and others, who are suffering the effect of a high crime rate and poverty. In his own words, “There is not a black America or a white America, but a United States of America”. I think that those who focus too much on the race and gender of a political candidate, has a thinking style that is a bit too outdated for today’s socio-politico world.
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