1 1 <p><em>Nielsen's</em> final rating for Obama's informercial on Wednesday evening suggests that the event was a success in terms of reaching a broad audience. The final numbers: 33.5 million viewers, remarkably more than half of the number who tuned into the second and most watched presidential debate.</p> 2008-10-31T11:34:07-04:00 398 true 2008-10-31T16:53:05-04:00 2008-10-31T16:53:16-04:00 1 1 <p>In a sign of the economic disparity between the two presidential campaigns, <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/obama-widens-swing-state-advertising-gap/">Nielsen </a>reports that Obama continues to outspend McCain in the key battleground states: "In Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Obama placed 155% more ad units (62,022 vs. 24,273) than McCain between October 6 and October 26, 2008... Obama's advertising continues to be heaviest in Florida, where he ran 18,909 ads between October 6 and October 26, outpacing McCain's 5,702 ads by 232%." Over the past few days, Nielsen reports, McCain has closed the gap slightly. More eye-popping, perhaps, is the Republican's newest ad buy: Montana, a state George W. Bush won by nearly twenty points four years ago." Yet, despite this enormous disparity, the race remains close in most of these states, though all, except PA, lean Republican.</p> 2008-10-28T10:19:27-04:00 366 true 2008-10-29T14:44:19-04:00 2008-10-29T14:47:54-04:00 1 1 <p>Another challenge now facing McCain: money. With Obama opting out of public funding, he has virtually unlimited resources in the final ten days of election 2008. The biggest challenge for McCain, then, is getting his message out against a tidal wave of Democratic television advertising. <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/obama-ad-units-outpace-mccain-by-150-in-swing-states/">Nielsen's</a> accounting of ad expenditures confirms that over the past week, Obama's outlay for TC spots in seven key battleground states dwarfed McCain's by 150%: "In seven key swing states--Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia--Obama placed 150% more ad units (53,049 v. 21,106) than McCain between October 6 and October 22, 2008. Obama&rsquo;s advertising has been most prolific in Florida, where he ran 15,887 ads between October 6 and October 22, 2008, outpacing McCain&rsquo;s 4,662 ads by 240%." The bulk and frequency of TV ads are only one factor in the overall success of a campaign--and electoral history is littered with losers who outspent their opponents--but having this kind of ad advantage no doubt helps Obama in the homestretch of this campaign.</p> 2008-10-24T14:35:31-04:00 346 true 2008-10-25T09:50:08-04:00 2008-10-27T16:44:24-04:00 1 1 <p>According to the <em><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/10/obamas_spending_edge.html">Washington Post</a></em>: Obama is outspending McCain "at nearly a three-to-one clip on television time in the final weeks of the presidential election . . . a financial edge that is almost certainly contributing to the momentum for the Illinois senator in key battleground states.. . . The spending edge enjoyed by Obama has been used almost exclusively to hammer McCain as both a clone of the current president and someone who is out of touch on key domestic issues -- most notably the economy." No doubt this edge has helped Obama to get his message out in swing state and thus to significantly improve his numbers in the battleground states, including six that went to Bush in 2000 and 2004 (OH, FL, NC, NV, CO, VA).</p> 2008-10-07T18:11:25-04:00 218 true 2008-10-08T09:33:10-04:00 2008-10-08T09:33:10-04:00