McCain Picks Bad Time to Cede Battleground

[Commentary] Last week, Sen John McCain (R-AZ) took a bold risk and suspended his campaign to go to Washington to help resolve the country's economic crisis. On the one hand this move is consistent with his "country first" brand, but on the other hand a total suspension of his campaign may jeopardize his party's chances this fall. Instead, McCain should have scaled back his buys and changed the tone of his ads. By releasing less combative spots, he could reassure the country that he will be in Washington addressing the financial crisis instead of playing politics. This strategy would have allowed him to remain on the air while still putting "country first." With Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) outspending McCain nearly 2 to 1 on a daily basis, now is not the best time for McCain to reduce his advertising. Decreasing ad buys for even a couple of days will surrender valuable media mass in the media battleground to Obama. Meanwhile, for the past several weeks, Obama has ramped up his ad spending by more than 20% percent a week in Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Michigan. His total spending now exceeds $2 million a day.