'Plan for Change' - New Obama Ad

Barack Obama's political campaign has a new 2 minute TV ad, titled "Plan for Change."

In my estimation, the candidate-to-camera is normally a good move. Some candidates can pull it off better than others. But the idea of direct-talk connects with higher impact than the drive-by attack ads.

Obama's team is smart to focus on the economy. Half of this ad, is Obama focusing on the problem. The old school politics (think of its master, Bill Clinton) first emote - feel the pain - then provide your solution.

He mentions four things in this add (127 words out of 355). These four "solutions" are so broad, John McCain can say them too!

- Give $1,000 tax-cut to working class families. (Yup, McCain's plan has that too. But McCain also gives all businesses small like the corner store and big like Detroit's auto companies and suppliers a cut too.)

- End corruption on wall street. (Yup, McCain too. Although neither are specific here. This has become a slogan, not a plan.)

- Fast track energy independence. (McCain's the only one that has a buy American first plan for each of the components of the energy field, given Obama's opposition to expanding American oil exploration.)

- End the war. (Both sides want to end the war. One seems to want to surrender in order to fund hikes in domestic spending and entitlements the other wants to win the war, ending it, to keep America safe.)

Nonetheless, for a campaign that refused to have regular Townhall meetings and a substantive exchange with John McCain, this ad is replete with hypocrisy. But I bet the mainstream media will fawn all over it and consider it substantive.