Reply #9: Because of the electoral college

[theboss]

John Kerry has to go to Wheeling, West Virginia and explain to 10,000 people in a large what his policies are regarding steel, trade, and the environment. He needs those 10,000 votes to win the state in order to win the election. He has to talk to those people, look them in the eye, hear their stories, and answer them directly. He has to listen to Jay Rockefeller and Robert Byrd when they speak. When he leaves, he has to tailor his advertising for them.

Without it, he can run a bunch of national ads about how Bush is stupid and how he was a war hero and wonder if he can pull another 25,000 votes out of Manhattan to cancel the 10,000 people in the Ohio Valley he is ignoring.