October 29, 2008

Errol Morris Walks the Thin Blue Line With Ads for Obama

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Back in 2004, filmmaker Errol Morris made a series of brilliantly simple political ads for MoveOn. Modeled after the Apple “Switch” ads, they featured Republicans explaining why they wouldn’t be voting for George W. Bush again. A couple of the ads aired, but otherwise the campaign fizzled, and the rest is history. Morris described the experience as “horrible” when I spoke with him a few months ago.

But now he’s back, lending his Interrotron to the cause. His new “People in the Middle” ads star moderate voters who plan to vote for Obama. Not surprisingly, the ads are subtle and effective. And the real people in them are a refreshing break from the increasingly unreal real people like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder. Over at his New York Times blog, Morris explains how this campaign is not just a reprise of Kerry Switch:

This time &mdash as opposed to 2004 &mdash the content of the interviews has been qualitatively different. The people I interviewed have embraced Obama. They are voting for a candidate, not against a candidate. Lissa Lucas, for example, tells the story of voting for someone for the first time in her life. There is a feeling of hopefulness. There is this optimism, even though the situation in the country is arguably much worse than four years ago.

But are these spots actually going to air wherever the last bastions of undecideds and would-be Obamacans are holed up? I’ve put in a call to People for the American Way, which is sponsoring the ads. If you’re in a swing-state and see one of them on TV, leave a comment.

Update: PFAW says the ads are Internet-only.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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