Talked-About Ads Were Seldom Aired

Campaigns Capitalize on Controversy

Sen. John McCain received considerable publicity for a television ad accusing his Democratic opponent of having "lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good-looking . . . then desperately called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful."

In the two weeks after the Republican convention, the commercial aired seven times.

Sen. Barack Obama drew substantial media attention for a spot declaring: "John McCain is hardly a maverick. . . . Sarah Palin's no maverick, either. She was for the 'Bridge to Nowhere' before she was against it. Politicians lying about their records." During the same period, that commercial aired eight times.

In the two-week period that ended Sunday, the McCain campaign released 25 ads, 12 of which aired fewer than 25 times. The Obama campaign released 28 ads, 11 of which aired fewer than 25 times.

"They've smartly figured out that there's news of the day, and by feeding the content beast that is cable news and the blogosphere, they're getting out their unfiltered take on the news of the day," said Evan Tracey of TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, which compiled the figures. Given the media's hunger for controversy, he said, "the campaigns are the enabling girlfriend."

By contrast, McCain's most frequently aired spot during this period, casting him and Alaska Gov. Palin as the "original mavericks," aired 15,938 times. Obama's top spot, detailing the lobbying records of senior McCain aides, ran 14,809 times.

It is an open secret by now that both campaigns are flooding the market with what amount to video press releases. The phantom spots receive enormous amounts of free airtime, particularly on cable news channels, and are the subject of news stories and "ad watch" features in newspapers. Journalists have no way of knowing in advance which spots will involve a substantial buy and which will not.

Spokesmen for McCain and Obama would not comment on the practice.

McCain's best investment may have been the spot accusing Obama of supporting sex education for kindergarteners in Illinois, although the legislation called for "age-appropriate" teaching. It aired 43 times during the two-week period. A hotly debated commercial charging Obama with taking advice from former Fannie Mae chief executive Franklin D. Raines aired three times. And an ad calling Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment an insult to Palin never ran on television.

Obama made headlines with a spot calling McCain out of touch because he didn't know how to use a computer and doesn't send e-mail. It aired six times. A commercial citing media criticism in accusing McCain of running the "sleaziest ads ever, truly vile" aired 19 times. And a spot charging McCain with dismissing the wage gap between men and women ran twice.

The pattern is that campaigns are putting the least money behind their most slashing spots, the kind that tend to drive news coverage. "The stuff they're putting weight behind is not all that tough," Tracey said.