A Post-Convention Strategy

With all the attention being paid to the convention, there hasn't been much discussion about what the Obama campaign should do in the weeks following the convention to try to sustain its momentum. So I'm going to pretend, once again, that I'm a political strategist and offer some unsolicited advice to the Obama campaign.

What strikes me about this election so far is how traditional it is. When it first became clear that the general election match up was going to be between John McCain and Barack Obama--neither of whom fit the traditional candidate mold--I think a lot of people, myself included, thought that we were in for something new and different. We weren't sure quite what, but we thought it would somehow look and feel different. So far, though, both sides have relied on very familiar campaign tactics. Every day or two, the campaigns release new 30 second television spots. And while some of these ads are more creative or noteworthy than others, they all follow the same tried-and-true format: a disembodied voice links together a series of images, text, and video footage and then asks a rhetorical question ("is he ready to lead?" or "how can he fix the economy if he doesn't know it's broken"). Even the purely positive ads follow a similar format.

If I were running the Obama campaign, following the convention, I would launch a series of ads that break from the traditional mold. I would produce ads featuring Obama himself talking directly to the camera. No narrator. No music. Nothing but the candidate himself, unfiltered, speaking bluntly to the American people about various key issues. I would consider making some of the spots up to a minute long, if necessary.

After putting out a few ads featuring just Obama, I would introduce similar ads featuring Joe Biden, also speaking directly and bluntly to the American people. Eventually I would introduce the same kind of ads in key swing states featuring popular local figures (people like Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and Tim Kaine in Virginia, Ed Rendell and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, Ted Strickland in Ohio, Bill Richardson in New Mexico, etc.). I would give the whole ad campaign some kind of catchy name (Politics Unfiltered?), something that the press can latch onto.

If you're having trouble picturing how these ads would look, take a look at these ads (1, 2) that were produced as part of Deval Patrick's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. I remember thinking they were particularly effective at the time (and thinking that, with a few tweeks, they could have been even better).

If done right, this kind of an ad campaign could serve to humanize the candidates, build a sense of comfort and trust, and project an authenticity that just can't be conveyed through traditional, narrator-driven ads. I think an ad campaign like this, if done right, would come across to most voters as refreshing and different and would powerfully reinforce Obama's central message, that he's bringing a new type of politics to Washington. It would also co-opt John McCain's chief strength, i.e., his perception as a "maverick" and a "straight-talker." McCain's ads would seem cynical and over-produced by comparison. Not only that, but I think the media would love the idea and would give these commercials lots of free airtime. Most members of the political media are suckers for anything out of the ordinary, particularly if it projects a sense of authenticity.

So what do you think? Am I completely off-base here?