MoveOn's Obama Ad Contest Garners Massive Response
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About Sam Stein
Sam Stein is a Political Reporter at the Huffington Post, based in Washington, D.C. Previously he has worked for Newsweek magazine, the New York Daily News and the investigative journalism group Center for Public Integrity. He has a masters from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is a graduate of Dartmouth College. Sam can be reached at stein@huffingtonpost.com.
In the span of 24-hours, starting Monday night, more than two million votes were cast for MoveOn.org's Barack Obama political advertising contest, a robust show of Internet activism even by Obama's standards.
MoveOn, which has endorsed the Illinois Democrat, launched its "Obama in 30 Seconds" contest weeks ago, challenging members to create an advertisement for the Senator's presidential campaign. The project drew more than one thousand submissions and will conclude with the winning entry being aired on national TV.
The reaction, organizers say, has been pleasantly unexpected. Indeed, when MoveOn launched its President George W. Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest in 2004, the group received 2.9 million votes total.
"We're blown away by the remarkable response to our 'Obama in 30 Seconds' contest--it's a testament to the energy and enthusiasm for Senator Obama's message of hope," said Eli Pariser, Executive Director of MoveOn.
For Obama, the MoveOn.org advertising campaign is, perhaps, more self-reassuring than politically beneficial. Many of the organization's 3.2 million members - mostly anti-war and Democratic activists - are already firmly in the Obama camp. That paradigm was even further sealed last week, after the Huffington Post reported that, in a private fundraiser, Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed differences with MoveOn and blamed the group for her caucus state losses.
Below, watch a sample ad, or go vote yourself:
April 23, 2008 08:54 AM