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Political ads add to the muddle, clutter on TV
2008-10-18
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - "Say it with a kiss." Hershey's. Muzi.com News 10081524-0 (muzi.com) "Ask yourself: Can we afford John McCain?" That's Barack Obama. Muzi.com News 10081524-1 (muzi.com) "Relieve your worst cold symptoms fast." TheraFlu. Muzi.com News 10081524-2 (muzi.com) "Obama. Blind ambition. Bad judgment." McCain. Muzi.com News 10081524-3 (muzi.com) "Fight for the bright." Cheer detergent. Muzi.com News 10081524-4 (muzi.com) Whew. Muzi.com News 10081524-5 (muzi.com) So many messages, so little chance for political candidates to make sure theirs are heard. Muzi.com News 10081524-6 (muzi.com) During the campaign's final weeks, people in battlegrounds like this one are pounded with paid partisan pitches as candidates, interest groups and political parties make their last pleas to voters - competing with the usual mix of ads for commercial products. Muzi.com News 10081524-7 (muzi.com) In contested areas like Columbus, the political ads - for local initiatives, state legislative races, congressional contests and the presidential race - multiply in the homestretch. The impact might seem questionable. Images and slogans blur with competing political spots and consumer pitches. But the candidates clearly think it's worth the money. A lot of money. Muzi.com News 10081524-8 (muzi.com) Obama is financially outpacing McCain here and elsewhere. He seems to be running three or more ads in this competitive state to every one for McCain. Muzi.com News 10081524-9 (muzi.com) The Illinois senator is so flush with cash that he can even afford an ultra-expensive, 30-minute prime time national spot on major networks. Muzi.com News 10081524-10 (muzi.com) For the week ending Oct. 12, Obama spent at least $30 million nationally to about $14 million for McCain and the Republican National Committee combined. Here in the Columbus market, Obama doled out $425,000 to $260,000 for McCain and the RNC, according to ad-tracking firm TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group. Muzi.com News 10081524-11 (muzi.com) Obama is airing at least five different ads here, a mix of positive messages promoting his biography and plans, as well as negative messages that assail his rival. McCain appears to be airing only one commercial in Columbus and it criticizes Obama and his fellow Democrats. Nationally, roughly one-third of Obama's ads attack McCain directly while virtually all of McCain's ads go after Obama, according to a recent study by the Wisconsin Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Muzi.com News 10081524-12 (muzi.com) Going back to the primaries, people have been inundated with political ads in some places all year with hardly a reprieve. Muzi.com News 10081524-13 (muzi.com) An Associated Press reporter spent a recent day channel surfing to get a sense of what viewers see on TV in a highly competitive state with 20 electoral votes at stake. Muzi.com News 10081524-14 (muzi.com) Ads for the biggest and hottest race, the presidential campaign, flash across the screen on different channels several times an hour; Obama's are far more frequent than McCain's. Muzi.com News 10081524-15 (muzi.com) In some, Obama says "we just can't afford more of the same" while McCain and Bush are shown together. Muzi.com News 10081524-16 (muzi.com) "On taxes, who's on your side?" another says - and answers that McCain is not. Muzi.com News 10081524-17 (muzi.com) Still another shows a ball of red yarn to illustrate health care unraveling under McCain. Obama promotes his health care plan in one positive spot. Muzi.com News 10081524-18 (muzi.com) Another is steeped in Americana, with Obama noting: "My grandfather would say, 'Boy, Americans, we can do anything when we put our minds to it.' ... That's the country I believe in." Muzi.com News 10081524-19 (muzi.com) McCain's only advertisement that was seen assails Obama over links with 1960s-era radical William Ayers while casting congressional Democrats as liberals who are to blame for the housing crisis because they "fought for risky subprime loans" and "fought against more regulation." Muzi.com News 10081524-20 (muzi.com) But the Republican also is getting help from outside groups. Muzi.com News 10081524-21 (muzi.com) "Click, click, click ..." goes a Republican National Committee ad that shows this phrase being typed: "Obama's plan would spend $1 trillion on top of our current national budget. ... Sound crazy? It is." Muzi.com News 10081524-22 (muzi.com) They tend to have the highest numbers of viewers. Muzi.com News 10081524-23 (muzi.com) 7:57 a.m. An Obama ad assails "big spenders like John McCain." Muzi.com News 10081524-24 (muzi.com) 7:58 a.m. "Steve Stivers. He's not on your side," a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee commercial says. Muzi.com News 10081524-25 (muzi.com) 7:59 a.m. "In crisis we need leadership, not bad judgment," says a McCain ad. Muzi.com News 10081524-26 (muzi.com) Over the next half hour, other messages add to the clutter: Muzi.com News 10081524-27 (muzi.com) "Don't lock these casino loopholes in the Ohio constitution," pleads one spot opposing Issue 6, which would amend the state Constitution to allow a $600 million casino resort in southwest Ohio. Muzi.com News 10081524-28 (muzi.com) Retorts a man in a commercial promoting an affirmative vote: "Issue 6 has no loopholes. I can read. ... Gimme a break." Muzi.com News 10081524-29 (muzi.com) And, an organization billing itself as the Committee for Truth in Politics sponsored a commercial showing a baby playing with its toes and cooing as a narrator says: "Senator Obama why did you vote against protecting infants that survive late term abortions... not once but four times?" Muzi.com News 10081524-30 (muzi.com) Cutting through the cacophony has become challenging for candidates running for everything from the state house to the White House. Muzi.com News 10081524-31 (muzi.com) Strategists for both Obama and McCain have had trouble this year determining the best way to ensure their messages reach voters in an era where blogs compete with newspapers, iPods compete with radio, and download-able programs compete with traditional TV. Muzi.com News 10081524-32 (muzi.com) Even so, TV commercials still are an important way to court a mass audience with crystalized messages that don't go through the news media's filter. Muzi.com News 10081524-33 (muzi.com) And, campaigns can target their spots to specific audiences. Muzi.com News 10081524-34 (muzi.com) Want to reach stay-at-home-moms? Run ads during soap operas. How about senior citizens? Game shows are the ticket. And, what about young people? Late-night comedy programs are a good bet. Muzi.com News 10081524-35 (muzi.com) Political commercials that are sporadic at other times, come fast and furious during morning, noon and evening news programs. Muzi.com News 10081524-36 (muzi.com) "You can't trust Mary Jo Kilroy with your money!" blares a commercial by Stivers, the GOP nominee for Ohio's 15th House Muzi.com News 10081524-37 (muzi.com) District. Democrat Kilroy's spot fires back: "No wonder the banking industry is bankrolling Stivers campaign. He's on their side!" Muzi.com News 10081524-38 (muzi.com) The media have their own ads, too. Muzi.com News 10081524-39 (muzi.com)
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