Speeches can have more impact than ads

For the past few days, the President’s been touring the nation’s midsection by bus for some hand-shake politicking. The Bush campaign has spent loads of cash on campaign ads, but University of Iowa electronic media professor Christopher Martin says a campaign-style speech like the one he’ll deliver in Dubuque nets Bush even more valuable broadcast time. Martin says if the President pulls off a good appearance, he’ll get positive news coverage that listeners and viewers will consider “more authentic and real” than a paid commercial. Martin says people appear not to be swayed by the barrage of campaign advertising since there’s been little movement in public opinion polls charting the Bush versus John Kerry match-up. But Martin says radio and television ads can still shake things up between now and Election Day. Martin cites Kerry’s advertising strategy just prior to the Iowa Caucuses. Martin says John Kerry came out of nowhere to win the Iowa Caucuses, in part, because of “effective advertising.”