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Less than 2 weeks to go!

by Jeffrey Lin on October 23rd, 2008   Comments [1]

It's been an exciting few weeks here at HQ; there's been so much content, not just the official ads and communications from both sides, but also from affiliated third parties (unions, lobbying groups, 501(c)(3)s, etc.), as well as celebrities, entrepreneurs and individuals who are entering the general political discussion and using their voices and expressions.

The Big Picture on ATM shows some very interesting trends. Most of the official communications from McCain-Palin and the RNC fall in the HACK/HELL quadrant, which speaks to the kind of campaign that the Republicans have been running: mostly negative attack ads, poorly done at that. The most positively received ad was McCain's "Where do you stand?" ad featuring the young people on bright backgrounds.

Obama's campaign on the other hand, which won AdAge's Marketer of the Year award, fully spanned the spectrum from HEAVEN/GENIUS to HACK/HELL. The Democrats have produced beautifully inspiring work such as "The American Promise" and "Signs of Hope and Change" but have also delved into the underworld of cheap shots and negative ads such as "McCain and Computers" and "90%".

The non-partisan campaigns are mostly get-out-the-vote ads and have been well-received, falling mainly in the HEAVEN/GENIUS quadrant. Humorous takes on the election such as JibJab's "It's Time for some Campaignin'" and even a clip from The Simpsons add some humor to an election cycle that has been mostly serious, save for both McCain and Obama's appearances at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner. Glassbooth.org continues to be the most well-received, due both to its execution as well as its intent as a simple voter education website which matches a candidate to individualized political viewpoints through a series of simple weighted quizzes.

With just over 10 days to go, be prepared for a final onslaught of campaigning as both sides will make their cases until the very end. Both Electoral-vote.com and FiveThirtyEight.com provide up-to-date polling and electoral college projections while The FactCheck Wire provides a very necessary filter to all of the "noise." Remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 4th so please make sure you are registered to vote and you know where your polling location is. And of course, keep checking in on all the political messages here at AfterTheseMessages and join the debate.

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