I was assigned the democratic party for the 2008 election. The ad that stood out the most for me was the “Yes We Can” ad as it was really eye-catching with it’s musical jingle that repeated the powerful words of Obama through music (with his speech playing in the background). They also used plenty of well known celebrities in the ad singing along which only further caught my eye. Reading through Obama’s speech, it was extremely powerful and in my opinion certainly does a good job of inspiring hope in Americans for the future (with hope being the main part of his campaign) as well as bring in all Americans rather than certain small groups. Regardless of which party you were a part of, I think this ad playing on TV would certainly make you stop at least for a second and listen as the song is extremely catchy. I guess its ability to be so attention grabbing is where it is so successful at least in my eyes.

Thinking about the rest of the ads I watched and the podcast itself, it really makes me think about how these commercials give an insight into the character and the overall leadership potential of these candidates. Looking at how candidates handle their attack campaigns, how they talk about social issues, how they talk about current crises, and even how they present themselves physically and verbally. These are things that viewers pay attention to both consciously and sub-consciously, so it is important for a campaign to manage this wisely.