The first attack ads of the 2008 election cycle have hit the airwaves in New Hampshire and Iowa, nearly a year before the first primary votes will be cast.
Moveon.org made the first political media buys in both states, marking an unprecedented early start to the mudslinging in a campaign expected to easily eclipse 2004's as the most expensive in U.S. history.
Ad, which aired on local stations in Manchester, N.H., and Des Moines, as well as nationally on CNN, assails Sen. John McCain for pushing for increased troop levels in Iraq. It aims to damage his prospects in both states, which hold the first primary and caucus, respectively, for the GOP nomination in January 2008.
"We wanted to show there is a political price to pay for escalating in Iraq," said MoveOn.org Washington director Tom Matzzie.
Ad shows the Arizona senator in grip-and-grin poses with President Bush as a voiceover intones, "John McCain has done more than just embrace George Bush's failed policy in Iraq. It is John McCain's idea to escalate the war there."
Ad comes six months earlier than the first paid political advertising in the 2004 election cycle in Iowa and New Hampshire and several months before local stations in those states expected to see the first spending.
"The PAC money is starting early," said Hearst-Argyle Television sales veep Kathleen Keefe. "We anticipated we would start to see spending in the second quarter -- May or June -- which would have been the earliest ever."
Hearst-Argyle has stations in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which all hold early contests for both parties within weeks of each other and months before California, New York and Ohio.
With 16 candidates either formally running or having formed exploratory committees, the field is huge and wide open, giving political action committees the opportunity to try to cull the herd.
"It shows you that the presidential race has gotten even meaner, that it is starting sooner," said media consultant Eric Dezenhall. "There is some hope that the Republicans' strongest candidate will blow up early on."
The spot represents the first trickle from a fire hose expected to pump $2.8 billion into political advertising before the end of the 2008 campaign, up 65% from the $1.7 billion spent in 2004, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Leland Westerfield.
"The unprecedented early start is going to be a big windfall for TV and radio stations across the country," said Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics. "Voters may suffer because they will have to endure this a year longer than they normally would."
WMUR Manchester is hosting the first debates of the 2008 campaign, with Democrat and Republican debates back-to-back on April 4 and 5.
"The Moveon.org ad is an example of what I think is going to be a full-court press here soon," said WMUR station general manager Jeff Bartlett.
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