Democrats Flood States With Ads as Tuesday Nears

Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have unleashed advertisements in nearly all the 22 states that have Democratic presidential nominating contests on Tuesday. Combined, their advertisements add up to a costly $19 million dollars. These advertisements are the most ambitious and geographically expansive television effort in a presidential primary. On the Republican side, Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney have a far more restrained advertising effort that started just this weekend and is focusing on a handful of states and national cable television. Mr. Obama, of Illinois, has run advertisements in 21 of the 22 states that will hold Democratic primaries or caucuses. Mrs. Clinton, of New York, has run advertisements in 16 of those states. His campaign has aimed advertisements on different issues at particular cities in an effort to tailor his message to the concerns of voters. The advertising strategies reflect strategic calculations by the candidates as they navigate the different Republican and Democratic delegate rules. Previous to this, no presidential campaign has come close to this amount for advertisements. The Bush campaign in 2004 had $5 million dollars in advertisements to win votes for states.


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