Posted on 07/30/2008 10:40:09 PM PDT by Red Steel
If you're growing tired of seeing the two presidential candidates in 30-second snippets on your television, at this pace you'll be downright exhausted by Election Day, Nov. 4.
In just the first two months of the general election campaign, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama already have aired more than 100,000 ads on broadcast TV, roughly 33,000 more than were aired during the same time period by the presidential candidates in 2004.
Between the end of the primary election season, June 3, and July 26, Obama has spent more than $27 million and McCain more than $21 million on TV ads. Throw in spots aired by the Republican National Committee and various interest groups and the total two-month spending so far on TV advertising exceeds $50 million.
Ohioans are seeing more than their fair share of the ads, according to a study released today by the Wisconsin Advertising Project, an affiliate of the University of Wisconsin's political science department. McCain has spent about $2.6 million and Obama about $2.5 million on Ohio TV spots. The RNC has spent another $904,000.
Five Ohio cities are among the top 20 nationwide in the number of political TV ads run over the two-month period. Cleveland ranked third with 2,724 ads; Cincinnati fifth with 2,570; Columbus 12th with 2,329; Toledo 17th with 2,121 and Youngstown 18th with 2,102. Philadelphia is No. 1 with 3,311 ads and Detroit No. 2 with 2,870.
So far, Obama and McCain have combined to spend more than $25 million in four battleground states. Along with second-place Ohio are: Pennsylvania: Obama $3.9 million, McCain $4.6 million; Michigan, Obama $2.2 million, McCain $2.6 million; Wisconsin, Obama $1.2 million, McCain $1.4 million.
McCain has benefited from about $3.6 million to air 6,005 ads by the RNC. The Democratic National Committee had yet to air a single presidential election ad.
Between June 3 and July 26, the Obama campaign had out-advertised the McCain campaign by nearly 9,000 ads: 55,312 for Obama to McCain's 46,563 ads. But when the RNC's TV spots are added to McCain's total, Obama's margin drops to just 2,744 ads.
Ken Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project, said that Obama's fundraising advantage allows his campaign to buy more ads, "but, to this point, we have yet to see that advantage translate to a massive advantage in paid media."
While McCain and the RNC have focused most of their ad spending in the four Midwestern states, McCain also has out-advertised Obama in seven other battlegrounds where both campaigns have been on the air: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, and West Virginia.
But Obama's superior fundraising has allowed him to expand the playing field to states that recently have been unfavorable to Democratic presidential candidates. For the two-month period through Monday, Obama aired ads in 37 markets where McCain had not bought a single ad, while McCain is advertising in only two markets where Obama is not.
McCain had not aired a single ad through July 28 in the pivotal state of Florida, where Obama has aired more than 7,000 spots since becoming the presumptive presidential nominee. Obama has spent $5 million in Florida, more than any other state. Other states where only Obama's TV ads were seen are Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, and North Carolina. Neither Democratic nominees Al Gore in 2000 or John Kerry in 2004 won any of these states.
"It's certainly worth noting that Obama is up in these red states and has the airways all to himself," Goldstein said. "That said, we won't really know if he's expanding the playing field until September."
The Wisconsin project found that more than 90 percent of the ads aired by Obama are positive and do not mention McCain. In contrast, about one-third of McCain's ads are negative, contrasting the presidential candidates. None of the RNC ads are positive; all compare the two candidates and refer to Obama negatively.
"This campaign is about Barack Obama, not John McCain," Goldstein said.
An unpopular GOP president and unpopular war in Iraq, a struggling economy, and a tarnished Republican brand auger in favor of Obama, Goldstein said. "What the McCain campaign needs to do is convince the electorate that Barack Obama is not a credible commander-in-chief, and to do that they need to run negative ads. What Sen. Obama's campaign and campaign advertising needs to do is persuade people that he is a credible president."
The study also found:
• McCain has narrated 20 percent of the ads sponsored by his campaign, while Obama has narrated 51 percent.
• The candidates are talking past each other on issues. The top three issues address in Obama's ads were jobs, welfare and defense policy. For McCain: energy policy, national defense and economic recession.
• Although Obama labeled himself as the candidate of change throughout the primary, less than one percent of his ads mention the word change.
• McCain used the word "hope" in more than 34 percent of his ads, while Obama has not used the word since June 3.
• Criticized earlier for not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel, Obama featured the flag in more than 68 percent of his ads. The flag appeared in about 37 percent of McCain's ads.
Well, DUH! What’s the window now to show campaign ads?
Oh **** you I hope you die
I really don't think that the founders intended it to be that way. We really screwed it up!
Gosh. And neither one of them has convinced me that they aren’t domestic enemies of our Constitution.
Filed under *one of the thousands of good reasons not to watch television*
Wow, all that $$$$ down the drain. I could have bought several fabulous estates with that money.
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