Tales from the Trail

WASHINGTON – Voters are being barraged by scores of advertisements for president, congressional candidates and ballot initiatives and Wednesday night Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama airs a 30-minute prime time appeal to voters on most of the major television networks.

The 8 p.m. EDT show, which is estimated to cost close to $1 million for each major network slot, will focus on the economy and include a little live Obama from a rally he will be attending in Florida. Obama, ahead in most polls (narrowly in some), will also go on the popular “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Comedy Central to round out his media blitz.

Meanwhile his opponent, Republican John McCain, made a pre-emptive strike, issuing a new television advertisement knocking Obama for his infomercial and will go on CNN’s “Larry King Live” at 9 p.m. EDT to respond to it.

But not to be outdone, the Obama campaign issued a new ad of its own, slamming McCain’s vice presidential pick Sarah Palin and their lack of knowledge about the economy.

One thing for sure – voters will be happy when the election is over and they can go back to watching ads for cars and pharmaceuticals.

With many Democrats upset that Hillary Clinton was not their party’s presidential or vice presidential nominee, rival Republican John McCain’s campaign tried to rub a little salt into the wound.

McCain’s campaign launched a new television ad using clips of the New York senator criticizing Democratic hopeful Barack Obama during their bitter primary contest, including about his policy proposals and negative attacks. 
     

Clinton’s team quickly responded, reiterating her strong backing for Obama and laying into McCain.
 
“She has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq, and expanding access to health care,” said her spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. “John McCain doesn’t. It’s interesting how those remarks didn’t make it into his ad.”