Barack TV

Wheat fields. Heartland. We've got problems.

Barack in an elegant, presidential quality office in a country home. Wonder whose it is.

It's about the economy. Anecdotes on struggling Americans.

Rebecca Johnston is all about her family. She lives in a house in the suburbs, has a car, and loves her kids.

It's getting hard to make ends meet. Her husband needs surgery, but they're concerned about the costs. The food in the fridge is laid out by family member by shelf so they can pace their food for the week. Her boy plays football. Costs keep going up.

But it wasn't always this way. Cut to Barack and his convention speech, emoting on how tough it is to be a waitress.

Back to Barack in the office, blaming the Bush administration for the Wall Street meltdown. We need a rescue plan for the middle class. He introduces his tax hike plan.

He's very good at playing president.

They show some governors, including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. One of the bright spots in a potential Barack victory would be getting this guy out of the state. He's an earlier product of David Axelrod, Barack's braintrust. We got the Together We Can crap here two years ago.

I never understand the desire to have more conversation about issues when what the politicians do is make stuff up that they'll walk away from as soon as they're elected. Or, in Barack's case, he's already abandoned one set of positions from the primaries, and now where seeing a slick presentation on the general election package.

McCain should have bought ads on either side of this and just run tape of Reverend Wright speaking.

I'm worried about this guy, I'm going to fight for that guy - it's all manipulative nonsense. The music is particularly painful. Enya type stuff.

Barack is about government programs, now he's talking about how government can't raise your kids.

On to his father who he didn't know, telling the story about getting up early to study with his mother.

This is so slick it's insulting. But if people watch it, I suppose they could be swayed. Violins are playing when he talks, who could resist?

On to his mother dying - some emotion to lead into Michelle and Barack as a father. He loves his kids, has time for them. Dick Durbin says that Barack made an impact right off the back getting to Washington. Joe Biden talks about how impressed he was that Barack had questions for Condi Rice.

Which leads to a chance for Barack to talk about Joe and pretend Joe's a Scranton guy. They share core values.

A new family anecdote. A Ford plant worker in Kentucky. He's been cut back to every other week at the plant, even though his father and other family members did fine with Ford. Now his wife has been laid off.

Barack's American credentials. We get the 30 second grandparent rap, then to Barack reading the teleprompter in the office on dealing with Iran and going to war.

Governor Richardson helps build the argument as the music gets more forceful. He's a fine man, we learn.

"I will always tell you what I think and where I stand," says Barack. Now, that will be a change.

Live From Florida - another stadium. The closing argument. It still feels canned despite the fact that we're not watching tape. In six days we can choose hope over fear, etc. The promise of change over the status quo. That's what we're fighting for.

He asks Floridians to work for him. And to vote for him. I've never seen him so contrived, but the crowd cheering is powerful, and the music comes up as Biden joins him for the closing shot.

"I am not a perfect man. I will not be a perfect President."

What was that political movie with Alan Alda running for President - oh ya, The Seduction of Joe Tynan? It felt like that, this show. Barack TV. What you can to to sell a guy when you have unlimited sums of money available.