Presidential Ad Wars Heat Up

PRESIDENTIAL AD WARS HEAT UP
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
After a long stretch in which only three of the presidential contenders have spent serious money on the airwaves, the ad wars began to heat up this week. Two leading Republican candidates have largely limited themselves to online advertising, with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani slamming Clinton in Web spots and former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) assailing "Hillarycare" in a video posted yesterday. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has far outpaced the other candidates in ad spending, devoting $6 million to television spots, more than triple the $1.9 million spent by Gov. Bill Richardson (NM). In Iowa, said Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, the candidates have "blown past the historic totals of the last election" much earlier. Among other Democrats, according to Tracey's group, Sen. Barack Obama (IL) has spent $1.3 million; Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), $863,000; Sen Hillary Clinton (NY), $475,000; and former senator John Edwards (NC), $385,000.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR200709...
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