Obama ad reminds Republicans to vote, too

 by Libby Sternberg

Is this ad a) an act of desperation, b) good campaign strategy, or c) a public service announcement about the need to vote?    

Narrator: 537, the number of votes that changed the course of American history.

News announcer: Florida is too close to call...

Narrator: The difference between what was and what could have been. So this year if you're thinking that your vote doesn't count, that it won't matter...well, back then there were probably at least 537 people who felt the same way. Make your voice heard. Vote.

The president: I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message.

  The Huffington Post reports that the president's team is running this ad in swing states. The campaign, according to the article, is not worried about voter enthusiasm but decided to run the ad because.... Well, maybe because they're really what the president thinks Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is. Coming on the heels of the "I finally have an agenda" move, this latest message seems like one more desperate attempt to nudge tepid Dem voters, perhaps turned off by the president's negative campaigning but leaning his way, to go ahead and hold their noses but still vote for Obama.

However, this ad is a double-edged sword. Just as it reminds Democrats of the 2000 vote-counting debacle in Florida, it also probably sends a shiver down Republican spines, too, prompting them to get out and cast their votes before ballot-counting nightmares recommence.

So my answer to the question posed at the outset of this piece: This ad is -- a) an act of desperation and c) a public service announcement that will surely jazz up GOP sentiments, as well.