Council Candidate Vop Osili Releases General Election Commercial

2011 Campaign Video Vop Osili from Vop Osili on Vimeo.

I received a press release in my inbox and, to my surprise, it was about a district level City-County Council candidate getting a video together. Vop Osili, the Democrat nominee for district 15, has possibly the best commercial I've seen so far in this municipal election cycle. Osili is an excellent public speaker and comes across as genuine when speaking. When he's speaking on camera, he's stationary and sitting on a porch, which gives the feeling that he's basically talking directly to you.

On a personal note, I often drive by that Vop Osili poster while on my way to Ivy Tech's campus in Avon. It's important to remember that district 15 doesn't just encompass downtown Indianapolis, and Osili's commercial makes this point.

The challenge for district level candidates is getting enough money to actually air these commercials in late October/early November on channels with programming where likely voters are going to be tuning in. Typically, council candidates run on a shoe-string budget and any airtime they might get is usually in an ad with their parties mayoral candidate. I don't know if Osili really needs to air his commercial on television since he's running in a heavily Democrat leaning district, but if he does, it'd certainly help his profile.

If elected, Osili will be a great asset to the Democrats to promote the party within the county and possibly elsewhere. I wouldn't be all that surprised that, in a few years when the political tides are more friendly to Democrats, that Osili runs for a higher office. Could he be a new representative for Democrats in Indiana, similar to how Evan Bayh was for several years? Only time will tell.