Obama's campaign blitz or marketing blitz?

By Patrick Day, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Getting elected to the White House is a lot like opening a Hollywood blockbuster these days. And nowhere is that more in evidence than Barack Obama's campaign after his speech on race in America.

With the current election cycle consuming the thoughts and dreams of a great majority of Americans, commentators have begun bemoaning the inevitable blurring of the lines between politics and entertainment. Young people get their news from "The Daily Show," a comedy program, and politically minded voters are putting their energies into creating Internet videos that rely more on cheesecake than issues-oriented slogans.

Some pundits are calling Obama's race relations oration the most defining speech of his campaign. However, it's the Obama media blitz that has followed that is most reminiscent of Tom Cruise's or Denzel Washington's pre-movie release talk show rounds. Take a look at some of the parallels between presidential campaigning and movie marketing: