608 Campaign Ad Spending in 2004

Today's paper reported that $167 million was spent in Ohio on campaign ads for all federal, state and local races, and that Cleveland alone accounted for $77 million, second only to Los Angeles ($84 million). Five Columbus TV stations pulled in more than $30 million. As an Ohioan, I can testify that our media got wealthy in the months, weeks and days before the November 2, 2004 election. I could have accepted Kerry as President toward the last, just to have the campaign ads over.

So I looked at the summary report by Campaign Media Analysis Group. Based on the hysteria and accusations of a large clutch of homophobic fundamentalist voters, the ad revenue doesn't add up to that conclusion at all. Over $239 million dollars were spent on approximately 365,000 television ads about the ECONOMY (jobs, taxes, Social Security, tort reform). Next most important on the ad front was HEALTHCARE with over 325,000 ads totalling over $230 million spent. The WAR ON TERROR was third, with about $130 million spent on ads in the Presidental campaign. Gay Marriage spending was barely a blip, being outspent by Indian Gaming six times over.

The Democrat 527s outspent the Republican 527s by a huge margin, $66.5 million to $10.9 million. Kerry led in internet ad spending by 50%, and I'm sure campaign gurus will be looking at those dollars carefully--1) could they have made the race close, or 2) would the money have been better spent elsewhere, or 3) did the DNC enter that arena too late (RNC was outspending on the internet until September).

To have access to details, you'll need to be a subscriber, but the main site, has lots of interesting information.