An unprecedented half-hour infomercial-style political advertisement for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ran Wednesday on major television networks.
I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved in your democracy again,"" Obama said to wrap up a 27-minute audio-visual presentation on his plans for the country if elected to office, followed by a live clip of Obama speaking at a rally in Florida.
Obama spoke about the issues that matter to him, interspersed with clips and commentary from people and families across America.
Although candidates have bought out large blocks of airtime in past elections, nothing of this magnitude has ever been done in American history, according to UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin.
Franklin said the McCain campaign will try to respond to the ad the best they can, but will be unable to respond in proportion. Obama has outspent the McCain campaign on ads by a factor of as much as ""10 in some key markets,"" he said.
""McCain's strategy has pretty much stayed the same; they've just been redistributing the ads based on different markets and where they're needed and where the issues are,"" said Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
Kukowski said Obama could afford to run such a large-scale ad because he chose not to accept public funding and did his own fundraising.
Although Obama has outspent McCain by a wide margin, nationwide polls show the race is still close with the election less than a week away.
""We are one week away from a historic election,"" Wisconsin Obama campaign spokesperson Matt Lehrich said. ""This is an opportunity for Obama to speak directly to the American people about his plans for bringing about fundamental change in America.""
