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Consistent with the Johnston et al. account of Bush’s late surge in battleground states, we find advertising effects that are both fairly large in magnitude and short-lived. As in some other studies, we also find that low to middle information voters are most susceptible to these persuasion effects. In combination with other recent studies, our findings of short, sharp advertising effects must be taken seriously. The decay effects uncovered by Gerber et al. are much more rapid than any previous scholar had assumed -- so much more rapid as to raise the question of how previous research has been able...

Barack Obama now leads John McCain 53% to 43% in Michigan, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state. Though Obama is down from the 16-point lead he held earlier in the month, he still holds a greater advantage over McCain than in all previous polls dating back to February. This is now the seventh straight poll Obama has held the lead in the state. Michigan’s 17 Electoral College votes have gone to the Democratic candidates in the last four presidential elections. The nominees are now tied among unaffiliated voters in Michigan at 46%. Two weeks ago,...

(CNN) – Presidential candidates are sold in much the same way a new product is: with an expensive, flashy, and ubiquitous television campaign. And according to advertising figures provided by Campaign Media Analysis Group, CNN's consultant on ad spending, Barack Obama's campaign has spent more money selling its candidate on television than most major brand name companies do selling their products. The Illinois senator's campaign is projected to have spent $250 million on ads in the last four months — a number that is equivalent to $750 million in a full year. Only AT&T, with a yearly advertising budget of...

<p>Republicans are slashing their television advertising at Colorado's three biggest television stations, a troubling sign for presidential nominee John McCain.</p> <p>McCain is headed to Colorado Friday, but public records provided by three Denver stations show the GOP this week cut their ad spending for McCain by 46%.</p>

I wrote this blog post and put it on my friend's website. Maybe I am crazy but I think this is political gold. If you agree or can come up with a better strategy please email the McCain campaign, if you think I am wrong or crazy that is fair, on little sleep so maybe this is off base: You need to have McCain on the stump right now, demanding that Obama answer and explain what in the hell Biden is talking about, and why Biden is projecting weakness to our enemies. I AM referring to the Biden speech on...

Barack Obama is well on his way to buying the Presidency. The effect of  Obama's financial advantage has  now even been admitted by the New York Times,  whose editors and political writers already may be lighting up their victory cigars, like Red Auerbach, the Celtics coach of legend. The state where the Obama campaign has been carpet bombing the airwaves most vigorously this past weekend was West Virginia.  If you watched TV over the weekend in the Mountaineer State, you could not have missed the Obama ads -- an extraordinary buy of $1.2 million per day for 5 days, with ads running...

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...

Senate Republicans are pulling advertising from the Louisiana Senate race, the only contest in which they were on the offense. The decision, reported by local media, is a blow to the GOP candidate, Louisiana state Treasurer John Kennedy, and good news for Sen. Mary Landrieu, long seen as the lone vulnerable Democratic senator in this cycle. Landrieu won election in 2002 with just 52 percent of the vote, and some believe the state has turned more Republican since Hurricane Katrina, which shrank the size of New Orleans. Still, Landrieu has been comfortably ahead in recent polls. She led by 13...

Luntz tests new anti-Obama ad on taxes from Let Freedom Ring. Notice how these independents react to Obama's tax hike history.

John McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee plan to spend "upwards of $160 million" in the final weeks of the presidential race, according to a senior McCain adviser. This will represent a massive counter-attack to combat Barack Obama's lopsided spending advantage to date. The McCain adviser told FOX News that, while Obama is outspending them in all but two of 14 battleground states, "that will change over the last four weeks." As national and battleground state polls show McCain trailing Obama consistently, McCain is urging voters not to count him out. "In case you missed it, this is about...

Dear Supporter, Our campaign just released a new web video detailing the ties between Senator Barack Obama and ACORN, the organization currently under investigation for massive voter fraud in a number of battleground states. Please follow this link to watch "ACORN." As a result of Senator Obama's blind ambition, he has a long history with the group. Barack Obama trained members of the Chicago ACORN staff, and his campaign has paid more than $800,000 for "voter registration" to an ACORN front group. We're asking you to take a few minutes this evening to watch the ad and learn more about...

CHICAGO--John McCain's campaign ads use "false and misleading statements" about the relationship between Barack Obama and Bill Ayers, according to an analysis by FactCheck.org. FactCheck.org conclusion Voters may differ in how they see Ayers, or how they see Obama's interactions with him. We're making no judgment calls on those matters. What we object to are the McCain-Palin campaign's attempts to sway voters - in ads and on the stump - with false and misleading statements about the relationship, which was never very close. Obama never "lied" about this, just as he never bragged about it. The foundation they both worked...

Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, locked in an increasingly tight and bitter election contest with Democrat Al Franken, said Friday that his campaign would halt negative advertising in a race recently dominated by it. Coleman, a Republican, said the unstable economy demands that the race focus on issues. He said he would also ask independent groups advertising on his behalf to pull negative ads, although by law they are not required to do so. "I decided I was not all that interested in returning to Washington for another six years based on the judgment of voters that I was not as...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 10 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released its latest web ad, entitled "ACORN." The ad highlights Barack Obama's involvement with ACORN, a group now accused of widespread voter fraud across the country and accused of advocating for the very type of home loans that have led to today's financial crisis. For ACORN, Barack Obama was a critical organizer, and this year, client to the tune of $800,000. As the spotlight turns to ACORN's efforts to defraud our electoral process, Barack Obama owes the American people the truth about his involvement in this group. VIEW THE WEB...

Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of primetime television on CBS and NBC, sources confirm. The Obama campaign is producing a nationwide pitch to voters that will air on at least two broadcast networks. The ad will run Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. -- less than a week before the general election.

The National Rifle Assn. is about to turn up the volume on its campaign against Barack Obama, airing more ads taking him to task over his gun record. Starting as early as Sunday, the NRA will be airing a new batch of spots in more battleground states, such as Ohio, Virginia and Florida. As colleague Noam Levey reported back in June, some say the NRA is losing sway. But Democrats, who generally favor restrictions on guns, still shy away from the issue, particularly in must-win swing states. The NRA already is up with spots in Colorado, New Mexico and Pennsylvania....

Branding his opponent as "erratic in a crisis," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is preempting plans by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to portray him as having sinister connections to controversial Chicagoans. Obama officials call it political jujitsu - turning the attacks back on the attacker. McCain officials had said early in the weekend that they plan to begin advertising after Tuesday’s debate that will tie Obama to convicted money launderer Tony Rezko and former Weathermen radical William Ayers. But Obama isn't waiting to respond. His campaign is going up Monday on national cable stations with a scathing ad saying: “Three quarters...

Right Change turns Obama's "yes we can" slogan on its head. Another good ad.

The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network goes up today with an ad reminding voters in two key states about Obama's ties to Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright. Representatives for the group say it will be a "$1 million ad and grassroots effort" around the veep debate tomorrow and the opening of the new Supreme Court session Monday. It will air on networks in the smaller and more inexpensive markets across Ohio and Michigan. In Ohio, Zanesville, Lima, Toledo, Youngstown, and Wheeling-Steubenville. In Michigan, Marquette, Traverse City-Cadillac, Lansing, Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Alpena. They're also buying time in Erie, Pennsylvania.