 Obama, McCain set for TV ad record
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-03 07:39 The 2008 US presidential race, which has already drawn a record number of dollars and voters, is poised to shatter another record: the amount of money spent on television advertisements. As Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain barnstorm across the country before the November election, they will spend heavily on ads that will increasingly reflect the cut-and-thrust of the campaign. Total spending on TV ads in the presidential race is expected to top $800 million, said Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising. Such spending totaled $500 million, the previous record, in the 2004 race. Even in the YouTube era, TV advertising is still the best way to reach wide swaths of voters directly, experts say. TV ads also shape news coverage and are frequently replayed, at no charge, during newscasts. Obama had raised $286 million through the end of May and is expected to raise hundreds of millions more by November. He has already bought air time in solidly Republican states like Alaska, Montana and Indiana, in an attempt to force McCain to defend states he would otherwise take for granted. The Democratic candidate also might advertise nationally during high-profile events like the Olympics or baseball's World Series, and seek smaller, select audiences with spots on cable channels like the youth-oriented MTV. McCain will be limited to $85 million in public money during the campaign's last two months because he did not opt out of the public campaign-finance system, unlike Obama. So the Arizona senator will be forced to pick his advertising spots more carefully. Agencies (China Daily 07/03/2008 page12) |
