Obama Airs 25,000 Commercials in Past Four Days

Will Spend More in Final 25 Days Than McCain Will in Entire General

Posted by Evan Tracey on 10.10.08 @ 05:03 PM

What a week. If a 30-minute purchase on network TV is not enough evidence that Barack Obama has more money than there is TV time left to buy, then I have a Bridge to Nowhere to sell you. In terms of message imbalance between the two presidential campaigns, it is clear that a critical mass has been reached. Obama is on pace to spend more on TV in the final 25 days of this election than John McCain's entire $85 million matching-fund check. For those keeping score at home, Obama has aired more than 25,000 commercials in the past four days alone.

McCain is in a shouting match against a man with a bull horn. Whatever McCain does in the final 25 days, it will not be enough to break through the noise unless his campaign finds a message that connects with voters. Timing is everything in politics, and McCain's campaign may have waited too long to play the Ayers, Rezko and Wright cards. These types of attacks do not work while voters are sweating the ups and downs of the economy and stock market.

So now what? If you are McCain? You must draw down ad buys in states you cannot win and focus on the states you must. Secondly, you need to find a message that connects with voters and their economic anxiety. You need a persuasive argument about how Obama would be worse for the already fragile economy. Anything less will not get the job done.

The big question for Obama is what to do with his 30 minutes of prime-time TV? I suspect it will be an epically produced closing argument that will rival those from the best courtroom TV dramas. This campaign is rewriting the rules on presidential campaign advertising.

Forget the Internet for now; this is a made-for-TV campaign!

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Evan Tracey is the founder and president of Campaign Media Analysis Group, a TNS Media Intelligence company. See his complete bio.