Thursday, August 7, 2008

Obama Endorses Beijing Olympics


Obama Endorses Beijing Olympics

Well, sort of. The seemingly ubiquitous presidential candidate has shelled out $5 million to join McDonalds and Anheuser-Busch as major advertiser during NBC's coverage of next month's Olympics.

The ad buy is the largest by any presidential candidate on network television in the last 16 years, AdAge reports:

While Rudy Giuliani's campaign did a tiny buy to air political ads on "Fox News Sunday" in consecutive weeks, the Obama campaign's spending on the high-rated and expensive Olympics top anything that has been done on network TV by presidential candidates in years

That's why many athletes are staying in South Korea and Japan for as long as possible to avoid Beijing's smog. The U.S. Olympic Committee is even providing protective masks for American athletes. And where does the IOC stand on ozone and particulate levels that might interfere with some of the outdoor events? Here's Gunilla Lindberg, an IOC vice president: Traditionally, campaigns target cheaper cable ads in crucial swing states. The last candidate to buck the trend was Bob Dole in 1996. Flush with youthful exuberance and record-breaking cash on hand, the Obama team thinks its campaign will meet a different fate than Dole's.

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