• June 17, 2004

At a time when President Bush seems to be saving his vast campaign war chest for political ads later this year, his challenger John Kerry has increased the pace of spending. Kerry's spot TV spending rose steadily for the first three months of the year and rose dramatically in April and May, according to a report released Thursday by Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The report said Bush's ad campaign started in March, but it hasn't really taken off yet. Local television advertising spending in this year's election has significantly surpassed the presidential election in 2000, when spending totaled $18.6 million in 33 markets by May. In addition, in the 2000 election, George Bush's spending had greatly outpaced Al Gore's. Bush exceeded Gore's spending by over 100%--$12.6 million versus $6 million.