Obama’s Informercial Made Me Sad

It wasn't just the opening shot of those sweeping waves of grain. It wasn't the shot of Obama in a really nice rustic office that I will never afford to have. It wasn't the moment when the senior citizen put on his Wal-Mart uniform and headed to work to pay for his wife's arthritis meds. It was the thought I had at the end of the whole Ken Burns-like production.

Why does Obama have to keep reinforcing that he is an American? That he's OK? Normal? That he cares? After nearly two years on the stump, we get another moment of introduction. This is sad. Shales wrote:

As political filmmaking, "Barack Obama: American Stories" was an elegant combination of pictures, sounds, voices and music designed not so much to sell America on Barack Obama as to communicate a sensibility. The film conveyed feelings, not facts — specifically, a simulation of how it would feel to live in an America with Barack Obama in the White House. The tone and texture recalled the "morning in America" campaign film made on behalf of Ronald Reagan, a work designed to give the audience a sense of security and satisfaction; things are going to be all right.

Isn't it obvious that either presidential candidate would be better than Bush? As much as I can't understand anything Sarah Palin says, I can't believe McCain would be same/worse than Bush. But McCain doesn't have the decency to at least admit that his opponent would be OK as Commander in Chief. Instead, he's a terrorist, a secret Israel hater, a socialist, etc. It's just sad that Obama has to keep reinforcing his American-ness. You can watch the video here.