Endorsements
What does it mean for a campaign when a local newspaper endorses a particular candidate? The Hartford Courant has followed in the footsteps of Colin Powell and has even used a majority of his reasoning.
But “Republican Sen. John McCain has failed to persuade us he could wake the nation from this seven-year nightmare” of the loss of 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, 4,000 American troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the greatest economic threat since the Great Depression.
But most troubling, from The Courant’s perspective, is the Republican candidate’s choice of Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Is endorsing a candidate a way for the media to publicize and legitimize its bias? Or, is The Hartford Courant on the same level as any other politician or celebrity, from which the public eagerly awaits the opinion. This newspaper (and others) is also covering a different kind of endorsement for McCain. Apparently, Al-Qaida supports McCain on its website for his ability to “continue the failing march of his predecessor.” Interesting….
A fine line exists between endorsements and advertisements; the line is pretty much comprised of money. As far as the game of advertising goes, Obama is way ahead. Those who support McCain are finding it hard to market their product without attacking the competition. Of course, some advertisements don’t cost Obama anything. Those are the ones done by the aforementioned celebrities. What I find interesting about this ad is that the celebrities, a group from which Obama already has a great deal of support, all look similar to some extent. Maybe not ALL, but the vast majority look like they come from one gender, race, and age demographic. Are they trying to reach particular people?
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Thinking Out Loud 
October 24, 2008 at 8:38 pm
You know it’s funny. Michael Moore said not to trust the polls because they are often wrong. I guess it’s the same way with the Courant’s endorsement. They endorsed Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney to win the Democratic and Republican primaries, and were wrong on both accounts. I hope they didn’t jinx Obama!
No but seriously, I don’t think it acts as much as an advertisment as it does a vote of confidence for its loyal readers. It says to the reader, if this trusted source of news believes Obama will do a good job, then we can have trust as well. I’m not sure what kind of weight an endorsement like this bears. I had similar thoughts to yours when I originally read the endorsement.
About the video…it looks like they are trying to reach out to the Jewish vote. It’s paid for by the Jewish Alliance for Change.