Obama’s Ad Effort Swamps McCain and Nears Record

New York Times ^ | Oct 17, 2008 | JIM RUTENBERG

[Jim Robinson]

PHILADELPHIA — Senator Barack Obama is days away from breaking the advertising spending record set by President Bush in the general election four years ago, having unleashed an advertising campaign of a scale and complexity unrivaled in the television era.

With advertisements running repeatedly day and night, on local stations and on the major broadcast networks, on niche cable networks and even on video games and his own dedicated satellite channels, Mr. Obama is now outadvertising Senator John McCain nationwide by a ratio of at least four to one, according to CMAG, a service that monitors political advertising. That difference is even larger in several closely contested states.

[patriot08]

Yes. That would be great..but we still need to swamp them with emails- DEMAND THE TRUTH BE PUT BEFORE THE AMERICAN VOTER!

[jwalsh07]

Yeah but Obama can’t put McCain away. Which means there is much resistance to Barack and his message.

[sergeantdave]

The little Marxist nobama can’t even fill the seats at his tiny beer hall rallies. Meanwhile, Mr. McCain and Palin are drawing tens of thousands.

[tanknetter]

If 0bie's gonna win in a landslide, how do you explain the polls?

Here's something else to consider. To really, truly get things done Obama NEEDS a supermajority in the Senate. Probably more because there still are Conservative Democrats who might not be willing to toe the party line.

Without that, he's looking at 1993-1994 all over again. The country simply won't tolerate a radical move to the Left. So it has to be forced down the country's throat. A Senate supermajority is the enabling force for that to happen.

So, why IS Obama still dumping all sorts of money into Obama ads? Why is he organizing massive rallies like the one in St. Louis? Wouldn't it be better for him to scale back, and throw a chunk of his remaining campaign money at the DSCC and DNC so they can use it in downticket races?

I mean, this is what we expect to happen if the RNC decides McCain is going to lose (because it's exactly what happened when they decided back in 1996 that Dole was going to lose). The RNC would pull funds and send them along to House and Senate candidates who could be saved.

[Names Ash Housewares]

You need a lot of money to run for President.

But you cannot buy it with advertising.

Your reach a saturation point. No more returns on your money.

[informavoracious]

0bama continues to pour money into 0bama ads because his EGO will allow nothing else. His campaign is not about the party, it’s about the MAN.

[bailmeout]

May not be as bad as it looks. There is a point of diminishing returns where constant exposure may actually turn voters off. Remember Obummer’s huge advertising advantage in OH and PA during the primaries.

BTW, what happened to the $200 million GOP shock and awe ad campaign? Was this an urban legend?

[loungeSerf]

Seriously. With Eeyores like you who needs Axelrod’s astroturfers. Enjoy your armchair.

[Verginius Rufus]

McCain will still have his day job even if he loses—his seat is up again in 2010 (and he won with more than 75% of the vote last time around).

[Chet 99]

Feingold to McCain: Enjoy your retirement, pal.

It is interesting... the two things hurting McCain the most:

1. McCain-Feingold

2. The mainstream media which is now in the tank for Obama, and which previously had been in love with McCain. McCain still seems shell shocked from the ferocity with which the MSM turned on him. It was all utterly predictable to us...

[pctech]

Can someone tell me when McCain is supposed to be spending his $166 million on ads? I haven’t seen it yet.

[tanknetter]

May not be as bad as it looks. There is a point of diminishing returns where constant exposure may actually turn voters off. Remember Obummer’s huge advertising advantage in OH and PA during the primaries.

The greater the quality of the ad campaign, the less need there is for quantity. Obama is bouncing the rubble here with his ad buys. If McCain has a couple REALLY good ads that completely undermine undecideds' confidence in Obama and prevent Obama from closing the deal, Obama's going to lose.

We don't know whether McCain has such an issue or adverts ready to roll. I'm somewhat perplexed by the lack of signs of the $200 million (possibly $400 million) ad buy as well ... but on some of the other threads here today I've been told that people out in swing states are seeing an uptick in both McCain and 527 ads. I'm in NoVA, so chances are VERY good that I'm not going to actually see the ad buy, but will hear about if from other sources (like FReepers).

[jdub]

dish network even has an obama channel.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Still waiting for some of the $160 million McCain was supposed to unleash after the last debate to show up in Philly,,,waiting...waiting......

[fortheDeclaration]

THE ONLY WAY FOR THE GOP TO DEFEAT OBAMA/BIDEN IS TO FLIP THE GOP TICKET FROM McCAIN/PALIN TO PALIN/McCAIN!!!!! THAT WOULD BE THE GREATEST UPSET OF ALL TIME IN US ELECTION HISTORY AND WITH ONLY .000001% CHANCE OF THAT OCCURRING.

And the moment the polls said she was losing, you would be throwing in the towel.

[fortheDeclaration]

I mean, this is what we expect to happen if the RNC decides McCain is going to lose (because it's exactly what happened when they decided back in 1996 that Dole was going to lose)

Clinton was up by 18pts and won by 8!

What is Obama up by-5?

McCain is going to wait until the last two weeks before the election to blitz the TV ads since that is when it is the most effective.

[fortheDeclaration]

Yes, Perot learned that the hard way.

[Skid Marx]

The greater the quality of the ad campaign, the less need there is for quantity. Obama is bouncing the rubble here with his ad buys. If McCain has a couple REALLY good ads that completely undermine undecideds' confidence in Obama and prevent Obama from closing the deal, Obama's going to lose.

In my area (Chicago) it's all obama, all the time. No McCain ads at all. I expect the disparity to continue through election day. I guess complete saturation helps demoralize potential opponents,(Behold! Our presence is not to be challenged!) And it helps the proles get used to BO as part of the environment. They have unlimited money, and no apparent restrictions on getting more, from whatever source. Wasting it doesn't seem to matter to them. We're not even considered slightly competitive, so the effort seems like kind of a luxury to me.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Back in February I bet a co-worker $100 that Obama would win the election.

I predicted the economy would tank and would saturate the airwaves with advertising in the last 2 weeks. The polarized 40% right and left had already dug in, so that 2 weeks would see the wishy-washy 20% swing to Obama, giving him the election.

I predicted this in February. My prediction is coming true but I had already won this bet before I reached out my hand to shake on it.

I hate the left and Socialism and Baby Bush has given the LibDemCommmies the nation on a golden platter by alienating the conservative base over his New World Order Globalist 8 years.

Palin in 2012! But she won’t win, will she? She can’t win. The power-brokers of the global shadow government would NEVER allow a person as dangerous to them as Palin is to run this nation. They like to have people in their pocket. People like Obama, Baby Bush, ex-Rapist-in-Chief Clinton, Daddy Bush...

[shield]

People are sick of seeing BHO’s face. All the ads will turn or are turning into a negative for the him...backlash.