Posted on 10/20/2004 8:52:59 AM PDT by Perdogg
Kerry camp pulls plug on TV ads W.Va. spokeswoman insists that doesn't mean state was written of
John Kerry's presidential campaign has pulled advertisements from area television stations only two weeks before the election.
"I guess they figured the ads were no longer going to change the outcome of the election, so either they thought they were going to lose or they thought they had it locked up," said Bray Cary, president of West Virginia Media Holdings, which owns WOWK- TV 13.
Area television station officials said the Kerry campaign got in touch with them on Friday, and the pullout became effective Tuesday. The Bush campaign has continued to advertise.
Kerry's spokeswoman in West Virginia, Amy Shuler Goodwin, said the advertising pullout is no indication that the campaign doesn't hope to win the Mountain State.
She said the campaign is still working to shade West Virginia in the color blue that is used by networks to indicate states that have voted for the Democratic candidate.
"Our strategy to win in West Virginia has never changed," she said. "We have more than 30 staffers working in locations across the state. We'll work harder tomorrow than we did yesterday to make sure West Virginia goes blue."
Both Kerry and President Bush worked hard to secure West Virginia during the past few months, with headliners from both campaigns frequently appearing in the state.
But West Virginia has gone from a competitive swing state to one that national analysts now consider to be leaning toward Bush.
Kerry's campaign must be putting its money in bigger states such as Ohio and Florida that remain more competitive, said Neil Birch, a political scientist at West Virginia University.
"It doesn't mean they're giving up. It simply means they see other, closer, bigger targets," Birch said.
"I think what they're doing is not saying, ‘We can't win West Virginia.' They're saying, ‘We have a better chance of winning some of the other swing states.' "
He suggested the Bush campaign might also scale back its advertising in West Virginia during the final two weeks of the campaign.
"It's the fact that West Virginia is perceived to be less close and only five electoral votes," he said. "I think you'll see a decrease from the Bush side. So it's bad news for the television stations."
Area television stations still can reach into the southeastern Ohio region that remains competitive, so some stations are trying to get the Kerry campaign to reconsider.
"That's the point we're trying to make with them," said Don Ray, the general manager of WSAZ NewsChannel 3.
"The Bush campaign is a little more on the ball. They're staying put here in this market so they can capture southeastern Ohio. The Kerry campaign seems to be missing that."
There will be no slowdown in political advertising, which might be a disappointment for viewers. Other campaigns are expected to swoop in for the airtime.
Contact writer Brad McElhinny at 348-4872.
And kerry's ship continues to sink...............
I've often wondered how Bush can be doing well in West Virginia, and he apparently is, and not be doing well in Ohio.
Well if things are that bad that a Republican administration can't impact on it and state attorney generals can't impact on it, we've lost the country anyway. A huge Bush win would take care of this.
Meanwhile Terayza raises a white raisin.
It seems like in the past few elections, the polls seemed to give Democrats a couple more points than the national results showed.
The campaigns' internals on Ohio and Florida are not necessarily competitive. The point is Kerry must try to win them to have any chance at all. Meanwhile, the campaigns are acting as if some of the Kerry leaners are battle grounds, and the Bush leaners are done deals.
Knowing this, it starts to make sense that Kerry/Edwards is acting so desperatly.
Agreed.
Where's the editorial commentary on the inappropriate partisanship of the part of the stations, such as with Sinclair Braodcasting? Why dosens't it read "...said Don Ray, the general manager of WSAZ NewsChannel 3, a Democrat and Kerry donor"???
They never leave that tidbit of information out when there is any perceived leaning in the Right direction.
The same states that gave Bush 271 last time would give him 278. If Kerry takes NH, at 4, Bush still gets 274. I don't know where people are coming up with the 269 scenario.
Thank goodness!! I was getting tired of watching them! They made my blood pressure go up :o)
Like you said!
The 269 could happen if Kerry also took NV, which he won't. I am sure there are some other scenarios that could get the same results.
This sKerry volunteer must be living in a dreamworld...and are being told lies, and is an idiot for believing them! I live in SE VA and can tell you with all due certainty...Virginia is going GWB! No doubt about it! It's not even close!
So many West Virginians watch TV stations just across the borders, Kerry really doesn't need to buy any more time on WV stations. For example, here in the Northern Panhandle, we watch Pittsburgh and Steubenville stations, and believe me, he's spending the bucks in
PA and OH! Having said that, I think there's some reason for hope in WV, as Kerry's anti-military, pro-gay, pro-abortion routine doesn't play too well, even with union Democrats.
ROTFL
I just received an e-mail about John Kerry's resume (humor) and it had this:
>COLLEGE:
>
>I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. Unlike my counterpart George Bush, I have no higher
education and did not get admitted to Harvard nor graduate with an M.B.A
Was Kerry a low C student at Yale? This was news to me.
Even in my demoncRATic stronghold hometown , my daughter classes in High School found Pres. Bush to be the next winner by a vote of 54 to 57%
They need the cash to buy votes
Dunno what his GPA was at Yale, but Ketchup Boy is a certified lawyer (he received his JD from Boston College Law School in 1976).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.