February 01, 2008
$107M Spent On Prez Ads To Date
The University of Wisconsin's Advertising Project has discovered that almost all of the $107M spent by the presidential candidates went to early state television spots. Almost none of it went to Super Tuesday states.
Democrats and Republicans aired have aired about 150K ads to date. Dems Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "spent somewhat similarly," according to a UW project release. But Mitt Romney spent as much as all of his opponents combined -- and almost four times that of rival John McCain in Florida.
Through last Sunday, Dems have aired 83,320 ads total; Republicans broadcast 67,798. The Dems spent $57M, the GOP $50M. Romney accounted for 35,000 of the GOP spots.
Republican ads mused on taxes, defense, abortion and immigration. The Dems, in contrast, all led with health care, followed by economic issues, such as housing, poverty and jobs. All told, about 90% of ads were positive, 10% were negative.
Third party groups aired 5K ads this cycle.
The Dems:
HRC
25,562 ads $18.7M
Obama
29,866 ads $22.7M
John Edwards
14,732 ads $8.3M
The GOP:
Romney
34,821 ads $29M
John McCain
10,830 ads $8M
Rudy Giuliani
6,856 ads $5.6M
Mike Huckabee
5,831 ads $2.6M
Ron Paul
5,215 ads $2.8M
More analysis after the jump ...
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Total Presidential Ad Spending By State:
Iowa
$43M
New Hampshire
$32M
South Carolina
$13M
Florida
$10M
Michigan
$4M
Nevada
$2.5M
The Change Factor
37% of all Obama ads mentioned the word 'change' while none used the word 'experience. Clinton, meanwhile, used 'experience' in 30% of her spots; 27% mentioned change. More than 29% of Romney's ads mentioned the word 'change.'
Change was the most popular buzzword, but the American flag was the most frequent image. McCain "wrapped himself in the flag" more than any other leading candidate, 77% of his spots included the Stars and Bars, while 65% of Giuliani's ads and 44% of Romney's ads featured the patriotic image. Among the Dems, Edwards led the patriotic drumbeat, using the flag 49% of the time, compared with 40% for Obama and 33% for Clinton.
The Wisconsin Advertising Project is funded this year by a grant from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation.
Posted at 05:01 PM
Comments
John McCain is trying to cheat and lie to win this election. It's just like when he cheated on his disabled wife and eventually divorced her for his rich, younger mistress.
It's also like the Keating 5, when McCain cheated the American tax payers out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Since McCain can't really talk about his senate record (amnesty, against tax cuts, 50 cent gasoline tax, etc.) he tries to play up his "character". I think his character is despicable. Cheating on and divorcing a crippled wife, wow that's bad.
Mitt is going all the way!!!
Dan | 02.03.08 10:51 PM
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