Playlist Evan Tracey
Healthcare Reform (Two Extremes)
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About Evan Tracey
Evan L. Tracey is the founder and president of Campaign Media Analysis Group, a TNS Media Intelligence company. CMAG is the leading custom media-research company for politics and public affairs advertising expenditure data. Mr. Tracey is often quoted by the media on issues and trends in political and issue advertising.
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This ad was one of Obama's most-aired commercials of the campaign. "Healthcare Reform" helped Obama do what few Democrats have been able to do: win on taxes and health care. With this ad, Obama made the smart move of linking McCain’s health care plan to higher taxes.
Although this ad did not air widely, it did have a significant presence on cable and the internet. I believe that "Brutal" helped turn female voters away from the McCain/Palin ticket. The McCain campaign did not do enough to respond to this message.
This ad featured one of the more potent messages that conservatives could have used in 2008. The ad, which directly quotes Obama on abortion, takes a profoundly pro-life and unsympathetic view of abortion. Had this spot had more spending behind it, and if it had aired in states like Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio, I believe it would have had an impact on evangelical as well as elderly voters.
The McCain campaign did a great job of using counterfeit TV ads as video news releases. Throughout the campaign, they would release ads that where promoted as airing in selected states. The news media would use these ads as a counterweight in their coverage of Obama events.
This ad, which did air once during the Obama convention, was McCain simply being McCain. Who knew that the next day he’d consume the Obama convention bounce with his surprise pick of Governor Palin?
This ad, which did air once during the Obama convention, was McCain simply being McCain. Who knew that the next day he’d consume the Obama convention bounce with his surprise pick of Governor Palin?
This ad was memorable because it illustrated how uninformed the American voter really is. To associate McCain and Rush Limbaugh on the issue of immigration is like saying pigs and people agree on breakfast. The ad, however, was basically unchallenged by the media and certainly was effective in helping Obama with Hispanic voters.