A relative rarity

30 second ads have been the norm in political campaigns for quite a while now. The Obama campaign has released a two minute ad that will be airing in battleground states that consists of Obama discussing his economic plan in more detail than you typically get in an ad, and without mentioning McCain directly. He does, however, obliquely suggest that the tone and lack of substance of the campaign isn't his fault -- he probably isn't looking for viewers to think it's all Bob Barr or Ralph Nader's fault.