Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Will the Dems now stop using organizations like Move on...

onetime2 · 05-04-2004, 05:22 AM

to get around campaign finance reform measures since Kerry's fundraising is approaching par with Bush? If the only reason to use them was really because Bush had such a huge warchest (as was touted ad infinitum by the talking heads) shouldn't they now stop using them (or at least cut back their efforts) since the Kerry organization is becoming a fund raising juggernaut as well?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/....ap/index.html

Quote:

Kerry throws $25 million into ad wars
Monday, May 3, 2004 Posted: 11:30 AM EDT (1530 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- John Kerry is launching new television commercials about his biography and platform this week in a $25 million, monthlong advertising campaign that includes forays into two Republican-leaning states.

The Massachusetts senator is spending significantly more money to run ads in May than the $17 million he put into commercials in the two months since gaining a lock on the Democratic presidential nomination.

Kerry has been airing moderate levels of ads on local broadcast channels in select media markets in 17 battleground states. But starting later this week, he will run new 60-second ads in all media markets in those states, plus in Louisiana and Colorado, according to Democratic sources familiar with the buy.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two new ads -- one that focuses on aspects of Kerry's life such as his Vietnam service and another that talks primarily about his top issues -- also will run on national cable television networks.

Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter declined to comment in advance of a news briefing Monday called to announce a "significant new general election ad buy."

President Bush won Louisiana and Colorado in 2000, but Kerry advisers say the Democrat has a shot at grabbing the nine electoral votes available in each of the two states this year. Bush has not run ads on local stations in either state.

Kerry's buy, which began Sunday and runs through May 27, includes the new 60-second ads, as well as a four-day continuation of two 30-second spots that outline his priorities and plan for Iraq. The purchase is heavy enough that the TV industry estimates the average viewer in each media market will see one of the ads 15 to 17 times over the course its run.

The ad buy is the single-largest purchase of airtime yet this year by either presidential campaign. However, Bush spent almost double that in multiple buys in March, his first month on the air.

In all, Bush's campaign has poured more than $60 million into TV and radio ads since early March when it first went on the air in 18 states and nationally on cable channels.

The president started out with ads that highlighted his record, but then quickly launched spots that portrayed Kerry as a serial tax-raiser and weak on fighting terrorism. Bush now is in the midst of a $10 million run of commercials that portray Kerry as weak on national security and highlight his votes against weapons systems.

Some Democratic strategists worry that such attacks have diluted Kerry's message and that the Republican labels have sunk in with voters. While Kerry's new ads are meant to tell voters who he is and what he stands for, they also could help repair any damage that may have been caused and counter the GOP assertion that he is a flip-flopping liberal.

Although Kerry has run more than a dozen ads assailing Bush or his policies since September, none of the Democrat's new or current ads mention the president.

Kerry can afford to stay positive on the air and run ads that fill in gaps in his biography and platform, rather than use commercials that attack Bush because liberal interest groups, such as the Media Fund, MoveOn.org's affiliates and the AFL-CIO, are filling that role. Combined, such groups have spent at least $30 million on anti-Bush ads.

Kerry is able to spend so much on ads now because the money has flowed in since he emerged from the primary season nearly broke. He has raised more than $105 million so far in his White House bid, including $80 million this year.

Bush still has a cash advantage, having raised more than $185 million since launching his re-election effort a year ago. However, he already has spent about one-third of what he has raised.