NEWS
Candidates spend big in ‘08
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by Ken Harris
Monday, February 4, 2008
A University of Wisconsin study released Friday reveals while presidential candidates have spent more than $100 million on political advertising, candidates have not invested a penny in states holding primary elections on Super Tuesday.
UW political science professor Katherine Walsh, part of the Wisconsin Advertising Project, said this is a new development this year that has to do with the change in the primaries schedule.
“So much has changed this year because of the primaries being so early,” Walsh said.
According to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, candidates have also avoided mudslinging in their ads. More than 90 percent of all efforts have been positive advertisements. The only negative ads were run in Iowa by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who pulled them after they were shown 11 times.
College Democrats chair Oliver Kiefer said the reason for the lack of negative ads from campaigns may be the looser restrictions on advertising by private groups this year. According to Kiefer, the private groups, named “527s” after the tax code that regulates them, are free to spend more cash this year and may be filling the void left by candidates.
“A lot of candidates try to leave mudslinging to the parties and private groups,” Kiefer said. “But I’d love to hope this is going to be the big change year where negative ads are not successful.”
Kiefer added he was glad the candidates were “campaigning on hope and not on fear,” but said the trend would probably change after the primaries were over. Parties usually do not want to smear anyone on the ticket who may win the nomination and need support later, he added.
The project reports the big spenders in the 2008 election thus far include former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with $29 million, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with $22.7 million and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton with $18.7 million.
The report also cited Obama and Clinton as having narrated a large percentage of their advertisements, with Obama narrating 83 percent of his ads and Clinton narrating 43 percent of hers.
“I think if the voters hear the actual candidate, it gives the message a little more weight,” Kiefer said.
As for Wisconsin airwaves, though there has been little spending here, Kiefer said it could shoot up before the state’s primary if Democratic Party nominations have not been decided after Super Tuesday.
“It’s going to be pandemonium here for about a week,” Kiefer said.
Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 6:23am):
Do you mean the last sentence in the first paragraph - candidates have not invested a penny in states holding primary elections on Super Tuesday. -?
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