Democrat Barack Obama talks directly to viewers about health care and education in a 30-minute infomercial that aired Wednesday night. (Obama Campaign/Associated Press)Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama hit the American airwaves Wednesday night to present voters with his campaign's closing pitch, just six days before the U.S. election.
The Obama campaign produced a 30-minute infomercial that aired in prime time on major television networks including CBS, NBC and Fox at a cost of about $1 million US per station.
The slickly produced spot showed personal footage of Obama and his family and images of Obama at a Florida rally. For much of the ad, Obama talked directly to viewers about his take on issues like health care and education.
"We've seen over the last eight years how decisions by a president can have a profound effect on the course of history, and on American lives," Obama said during spot.
Fox pre-empted its World Series pre-game show to accommodate the Obama spot and didn't begin its baseball coverage until the commercial concluded.
ABC did not air the ad because it initially declined to take the half-hour spot, then changed its mind too late after the campaign had already finalized with the other networks.
Obama's 10-year-old daughter was reportedly unimpressed with her father's prime-time buy-up, according to his wife, Michelle.
Michelle told late-night talk show host Jay Leno on Monday that Malia asked, "'You're going to be on all the TV? Are you going to interrupt my TV?"
Michelle Obama said the presidential candidate assured his daughter that he hadn't bought time on the Disney Channel, which is operated by the same group as ABC.
Obama will continue his TV presence later in the evening, appearing in pre-taped interviews on Comedy Central's The Daily Show.
'Let the voters weigh in': McCain
Infomercials were a common advertising strategy in the 1950s and '60s, but Obama's ad was the first paid national political telecast since Ross Perot ran a series during his 1992 independent bid for president.
Obama's $600 million in fundraising has allowed him to take it to another level.
"So Senator Obama is measuring the drapes and he's planned his first address to the nation for before the election," said John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, at a campaign rally. "I guess I'm old-fashioned about these things. I prefer to let the voters weigh in before predicting the outcome."
McCain is purchasing lots of ad time too, but the financial disparity between the Obama and McCain campaigns is so wide that it has allowed Obama to spend more than McCain, giving him greater access to key markets.
Obama is financing his presidential race with private contributions after abandoning a previous pledge to take public financing.
McCain forced to play catch-up
Meanwhile, Democrats are dominating early voting in six key states that were won by President George W. Bush four years ago, forcing McCain to play catch-up even before election day arrives.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in early voting in Florida, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, New Mexico and Nevada, according to statistics from election and party officials in those states.
Bush won all six states in 2004, and McCain needs to win most of them to claim the White House.
Georgia, another Republican stronghold, tracks early voters by race and not by party, About 1.4 million Georgians have already cast ballots, and blacks are voting in disproportionate numbers.
Black voters overwhelmingly support Obama, who is bidding to become the nation's first black president in the Nov. 4 election.
With files from the Associated Press and Reuters
