There have been a lot of comments in recent days about how the Obama campaign doesn't need any advice from us. And I am certainly willing to concede that they are professionals who know a lot more about this process than I do. That said, I don't see the harm in offering my two cents in the off chance that it might be helpful. That is one of the great things about the Obama campaign. Unlike McCain's campaign, where everything now seems to be the product of Rove acolyte Steve Schmidt, right down to the faux flag controversy, Obama's people take the grassroots (& the netroots) seriously.
My father was in advertising and even worked on Bob Graham's campaign many years ago when he was running as a long-shot candidate for Governor of Florida. So I guess you could say I have an informed amateur's interest in political advertising.
From my point of view, I think the Obama campaign needs to do several things, and soon, to break up McCain's perceived momentum in the polls and the media.
1.) McCain, taking a page from the Big Dog's playbook, has tried to seize the change mantle for himself. Obama needs to remind the public that he is the real change candidate.
2.) They need to take some of the sheen off Palin & crack through the McCain meme that she is a "reformer." We know she's not, but that is meaningless if most voters don't.
3.) Revive questions about whether or not Palin really has the experience needed to step into the Presidency.
3.) Avoid going after Palin too hard. She's not on the top of the ticket and bare-knuckled tactics might alienate swing voters & make her seem more sympathetic.
4.) The Obama campaign needs to reassert the McCain=Bush meme that has been so effective with voters & will tap into the real desire out there for change.
Fortunately enough, I think this can be done with one well-made ad (coupled with lots of repetition on the stump and by surrogates). Roughly speaking, this is how it would go:
Open with a shot of McCain and Bush together.
Voiceover: After twenty-six years, Washington insider John McCain says he wants change.
Cut to clip of McCain acceptance speech where he talks about exposing and vetoing earmarks.
Cut to clips of newspaper headlines (Anchorage Daily News best when available). Also show the lobbying report with her handwriting saying "Ed did good!"
But his choice for VP? She hired a DC lobbyist to get $27 million in earmarks for her town.
Cut to picture of Wasilla city hall
But still left it $20 million in debt.
Cut to headlines about Alaska being #1 in earmarks.
As governor, she was number one in the country in requesting earmarks from Congress.
Cut to headlines about the Bridge to Nowhere (again, anything from ADN during her gubernatorial campaign would be best)
And that bridge to nowhere?
She was for it before she was against it.
Cut to picture of McCain & Bush arm-in-arm.
I guess when John McCain says "change," what he really means is "more of the same."
Some may complain this is attacking Palin. But the thrust of it is to expose McCain's hypocritical claims while also challenging the new meme on Palin. We can't not touch Palin, but rather than going after her directly, this reminds voters about why they had questions about her in the first place.
And whether McCain really is the person he claims to be.
UPDATE: McCain's people are out with this ad today.
An ad like the one sketched out above would thus be doubly effective in blowing the whole maverick meme out of the water.
UPDATE II: This response is good. But an ad would get a lot more play.