Obama to air 30-minute commercial in unprecedented move
By Channel NewsAsia’s Correspondent Daniel Ryntjes
Posted: 29 October 2008 1702 hrs
Obama to air 30-minute commercial in unprecedented move
Special Report
WASHINGTON: US presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised over US$600 million for his campaign – far ahead of the amount his Republican rival John McCain has raised.
And as if to press the point, the Democrat candidate is about to spend a chunk of the money on a half-hour-long commercial, which is airing on prime time over three major networks.
At 8pm, American Eastern time on Wednesday night, Obama will be broadcasting simultaneously on NBC, Fox and CBS – a ploy that has never been used before.
Reid Cox from the Centre for Competitive Politics said: “In this unprecedented television commercial of 30 minutes, he’s able to explain his political ideas directly to the people. (It) is an even more positive thing because people aren’t going to hear his political messages in 30- or 60-second bites of television commercials.”
These three adverts will cost US$1 million each to air. But that is a small change compared with the more-than-US$600 million Obama has raised during the campaign.
At least half of that money has been raised through small website donations by over three million Obama supporters, giving an average of under US$100. It is also the first time a candidate has chosen to bypass public financing.
But McCain is barred from doing this kind of fundraising because he had opted for public financing. The Republican campaign was given US$84 million from the public purse and as Americans enter the final week of the campaign, it is limiting McCain’s spending options.
Bill Buzenburg from the Centre for Public Integrity said: “You’re seeing him pulling back from some key states like Michigan. We’ve seen Obama moving into some very contested states that used to be Republican-dominated like Virginia or North Carolina, and he’s doing some tremendous advertising in those states.
“He has a great advantage at this stage in the campaign, based on the fact that he’s raised so much money, and he’s not limited by taking the public financing this time.”
But is this financial mis-match unbalancing the political process? The Centre for Competitive Politics said Obama’s gambit to reject public financing early on has set a new benchmark in voter participation.
Cox said: “Too much has been made of the saying that ‘money is the root of all evil’. When it comes to speech, that is exactly wrong. Money is the root of speech, money is the root of information and that’s information the voters need. I think this time, you’re actually having voters who feel well-informed about the issues and that’s because of the amount of spending we’ve seen in this campaign.”
Election law states that individual donors are only allowed to give up to US$2,300. But the Centre for Public Integrity said the traditional big donors who want to buy influence in Washington are finding new ways to make their presence felt by grouping individual donations together.
Buzenburg said: “The truth is that another half of the money he’s raising is raised the traditional old way, if you will, coming in from major bundlers – hundreds of people who are collecting money in small donations, orchestrated in many cases by a corporation.
“A corporation can’t give, but members of the senior management can contribute to a bundler. That bundler is expecting access and influence for a contribution.”
McCain and Obama can also get funding from their respective parties through allocations from joint party/campaign committees, with individual cheques to those committees adding up to tens of thousands of dollars from each donor.
But there is no doubt that Obama’s record-breaking political fundraising is ushering in a new era of popular politics, providing people with an opportunity to vote with their wallets before they enter the ballot stations.
Good Day Brothers and Sister,
I trust you will be tuned into your telescreens tonight for this momentous event.
Good Day Brothers and Sisters
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