And dominate he did

I read (somewhere?) that the reason for the late start time for the Obama/Clinton rally in Florida was to dominate the news cycle. I think they were successful. Starting with the 30-minute political "infomercial", then the seemingly never-ending FL rally and ending with The Daily Show, Barack was literally everywhere. Now don't get me wrong, I love me some B-Rock, but I do have a few comments and I wanted to get them out before I read all the blogs, etc and see what they thought (even though it is killing me a little to not be reading them RIGHT NOW).

1. The "infomercial", I thought, was a bit too much. Overproduced is a better word. Davis Guggenheim of "An Inconvenient Truth" fame directed and/or produced it - and it was great, for a movie. I thought it was overkill for tv with no commercial interruptions. The moment that struck me (and my friend Liz) was in the scene where he was talking to a group in a living room and there was a man that was near tears because of losing his pension. No matter how "produced" it is, you can't fake that kind of emotional honesty.

I do have to give it to the Obama team, it has never been done before. They are changing the way campaigns will be run from now on. This is one to be studied. (Kudos to the 2 Davids - they had this whole thing planned out from the start!)

2. The Florida rally with Bill Clinton...finally. Slick Willy did what he needed to do - and did it the way only he could do (did anyone else think he seemed drunk?). His speech seemed a bit long (it is Bill), but he hit all the points he needed to while Barack sat humbly behind him (yessir, may I shine your shoes too?). When Barack got up to speak, he returned the favor by stroking Bill ego (I actually wondered out loud, if they negotiated how much ass each would have to kiss ahead of time - call me cynical.) Both are great orators with slightly different styles (were they competing a little?). Barack's speech seemed a bit long as well. The passing of the Dem torch...perfect timing.

3. BHO was good on The Daily Show, he campaigned a bit more than I would've like, but with 6 days left...
Following a brilliant skewering of Palin by Stewart, Barack ended a long night of exposure on a high note.

With 26.3 million people watching...the verdict: money well spent.