For Now, McCain Has The TV-Ad Scene to Himself

John McCain's new TV-ad campaign says a lot about how he sees the general-election battle ahead. The message is economics and the state that has seen the most spending on ads so far is Ohio. Sen. McCain, the Republican candidate for president, is also on the air in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa and West Virginia, all battleground states in recent campaigns. Of those states, President Bush in 2004 carried Ohio, Iowa and West Virginia, and lost Michigan and Pennsylvania. Sen. McCain has spent $1.5 million in the past 60 days, most of it in the last month, according to data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group. He appears to be ramping up his spending. On Wednesday, his campaign aired $170,000 worth of ads; at that rate, he would spend $1.2 million in a single week. The ads are particularly effective because nobody is airing competing ads to counter them, said Evan Tracey of TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, which tracks ads as they air. The McCain effort pales in comparison to what President Bush did in 2004, when he was flush with cash and had no primary opposition. That March he began an extraordinary $10.5 million ad buy in 16 states. Sen. Barack Obama, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, is likely to have the money for a comparable buy once he fully pivots to the general-election contest.
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