WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As November 4th draws near, Barack Obama is getting serious about reaching voters. He's apparently bought 30 minutes of CBS airtime during prime time.
The Obama campaign will air a half-hour primetime special on Wednesday, October 29th, at 8 p.m.
Reportedly the Obama camp is also in talks with NBC and FOX. NBC is said to be very near a deal. With FOX, the matter is likely to remain uncertain as the time period could conflict with Game 6 of the World Series.
Ross Perot did a similar purchase in 1992.
This year has seen the first time in many years that presidential campaigns have bought national broadcast TV advertisements. In the past 12 years, much of the billions of dollars in political advertising spent has gone to local TV stations in battleground states. While some money has gone to national cable channels, the thinking has always been that it would be more prudent to target battleground states' voters instead of addressing the entire nation, including states that reliably vote for one party or another.
The Obama campaign earlier this year opted out of the public financing system, which meant that it was free to raise and spend as much as it could. It has, in states like Michigan, outspent the publicly financed McCain campaign by a margin of at least 3-to-1.
