NYT, pg1: Ads for (and at No Cost to) Kerry Keep Flowing

[DeepModem Mom]

THE AD CAMPAIGN
Ads for (and at No Cost to) Kerry Keep Flowing
By JIM RUTENBERG

Published: August 5, 2004


LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., Aug. 4 - In the weeks leading up to the Democratic convention, Senator John Kerry's campaign aides worried that the senator would have to begin spending his $75 million in public financing a month earlier than President Bush. They even flirted with the idea that he would delay accepting the nomination so he could keep raising and spending millions of dollars on advertising throughout August.

But August has brought a spate of what seemed to be Kerry advertisements every day. To a voter's eye, the senator's campaign marches on seamlessly - and usually on message. And the campaign is not a penny poorer for it.

The advertisements introduced this week were not paid for by Mr. Kerry's campaign, but from a newly formed arm of the Democratic Party, which is running a $6.5 million advertising campaign in Missouri and 19 others this week, and The Media Fund, which is running a $2.5 million campaign in five swing states, and the New Democratic Network, which is spending $500,000 on Spanish-language commercials in 11 cities. The advertisements from the campaign and the party are in many ways similar, emphasizing words like "win,'' "strength" and "alliances."

For the second time this campaign season outside groups that are not legally allowed to coordinate with Mr. Kerry's campaign are riding to its rescue at a crucial time in its advertising campaign against President Bush - the most expensive on record. The spots hit just when Mr. Kerry ceased advertising and when Mr. Bush increased his with commercials reminding the nation of what it has been through, the dangers that lie ahead and, in one released Tuesday, declaring it is "rising to the challenge."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/05/politics/campaign/05ads.html