Money
From The Grand Rapids Press April 16
Democrat top leaders:
Hillary Rodham Clinton: $26 million, $19.1 million for the primary election
Key Sources: Morgan Stanley Employees $76,650; Guess Inc. $4600; Candice Bergen Malle, actor $4600; CEO Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network $2300; Kate Capshaw Spielberg, actor $2300.
Barack Obama: $25.7 million, approximately $1 million for general election
Key Sources: Goldman Sachs Employees $94,450; CEO InterActive Corporation $4600; Tom Hanks, actor $4600; Eddie Murphy $2300; Morgan Freeman $2300, News Corporation President $2100.
John Edwards: $14 million, $13 million for the primary election
Key Sources: Fortress Employees $67,450; Warner Bros. President $2300; CEO DreamWorks Studios $2300; CEO Sirius Satellite Radio $2300.
Republican top leaders:
Mitt Romney: $20.7 million, all for the primary election
Key Sources: Goldman Sachs Employees, more than $83,000; Professional Golfer, Johnny Miller $2300; Danny Ainge, former NBA player and VP of Boston Celtics $2100.
Rudy Giuliani: $14.7 million, $13.6 million for the primary
Key Sources: Elliott Management Corporation Employees, more than $125,000; Kelsey Grammer $2300; Adam Sandler $2100.
John McCain: $13 million, $49,000 for the general election
Key Sources: Blank Rome LLP Employees, more than $120,000; Jerry Jones, owner Dallas Cowboys $2300; Richard North Patterson, novelist $1,000.
From iafrica.com news, April 16
" The cost of mounting a presidential challenge is spiralling upward with each successive election season.
Pundits say the major candidates will each have to raise at least $100-million or more before the first primary and caucus votes are cast beginning next January."
History of Campaign Advertisement
Pre-Television
The first political advertisement in America began rightly enough in the original 13 Colonies. Pamphlets and newspapers were printed by independence- and loyalist-minded citizens and distributed in all the major cities in the run-up to the Revolutionary War. After the war, these same methods were used in political races. And by 1796, both the Federalist and Republican Party had networks of newspaper printers to attack the other. Catchy slogans and witty comparisons were used to attack opponent’s character and views. Politicians canvassed an area to find out what those people thought important and then targeted that topic. The expansion of road systems and especially the railroad allowed candidates, especially for President and other high profile statesmen, to travel the country and get there message out directly. Local party officials planned parades with uniformed party members, night and day. Parties printed banners, buttons, manufactured uniforms and distinguishing clothes. The pomp and circumstance of politics of the day pushed voter turnout into and above the 80% range, and everyone was sure that their party was going to win. Technology only improved the newspaper industry, and politician remained in control of much of the newspaper message. Eventually, advertising of another sort, commercial ads, which paid the newspapers more for space, stole them away from partisan politicians. This system of high voter interest went on for many decades before the biggest revolution in political campaign advertisement came along: the Television.
Post Television
1939 - FDR is the first president to appear on television.
1948 – Harry S. Truman embarked on one of the last railroad political tour of the country, on his way to surprise Thomas Dewey and win the election.
1950 – First political TV ads run by Senator William Benton of Connecticut
1952 – Dwight Eisenhower appeared on TV in short ads to answer everyday Americans questions
1956 – Although they had blasted the Republican’s use of the TV in 1952, the Democratic Party used a similar campaign
1960 – The famous debate between Kennedy and Nixon. TV viewers believed the handsome Kennedy had won, while radio-listeners thought Nixon had. Kennedy won the election.
1964 – Both parties landed major advertising firms, producing high-quality and evocative ads.
1968 – Nixon wins election using a finely crafted on-air image
1972 – Nixon’s TV campaign made him appear more “Presidential” than his opponent and he won in a landslide.
1976 – Jimmie Carter won his election on the image of him as an outsider, appearing in ads in farmer’s clothes.
1988 – Attack ads are used against George Bush’s opponent Michael Dukakis causing immense controversy. The ads were not produced by the Bush campaign, but instead by outside special interest groups.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/
I. What Is Political Advertising?
In the law, "political advertising" is a specifically defined term.
To figure out if a communication is political advertising, you must look at what it says and where it appears. If a communication fits in one of the categories listed in Part A (below) and if it fits in one of the categories listed in Part B (below), it is political advertising.
Part A. What Does It Say?
1. Political advertising includes communications supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to either a public office or an office of a political party (including county and precinct chairs).
2. Political advertising includes communications supporting or opposing an officeholder, a political party, or a measure (a ballot proposition).
Part B. Where Does It Appear?
1. Political advertising includes communications that appear in pamphlets, circulars, fliers, billboards or other signs, bumper stickers, or similar forms of written communication.
2. Political advertising includes communications that are published in newspapers, magazines, or other periodicals in return for consideration.
3. Political advertising includes communications that are broadcast by radio or television in return for consideration.
4. Political advertising includes communications that appear on an Internet website
MISREPRESENTATION
I. Are There Restrictions On The Contents Of Political Advertising?
Political advertising and campaign communications may not misrepresent a person's identity or official title, nor may they misrepresent the true source of the advertising or communication. The election law does not address other types of misrepresentation in political advertising or campaign communications.
Note that the misrepresentation rules apply to both political advertising and campaign communications. "Campaign communication" is a broader term than "political advertising."
A "campaign communication" means "a written or oral communication relating to a campaign for nomination or election to public office or office of a political party or to a campaign on a measure."
II. Misrepresentation Of Office Title.
A candidate may not represent that he or she holds an office that he or she does not hold at the time of the representation. If you are not the incumbent in the office you are seeking, you must make it clear that you are seeking election rather than reelection by using the word "for" to clarify that you don't hold that office. The word "for" must be at least one-half the type size as the name of the office and should appear immediately before the name of the office. For example, a non-incumbent may use the following formats:
Vote John Doe for Attorney General
John Doe for Attorney General
III. Misrepresentation Of Identity Or Source.
A person violates the law if, with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election, the person misrepresents the source of political advertising or a campaign communication or if the person misrepresents his or her own identity or the identity of his or her agent in political advertising or in a campaign communication. (If someone else is doing something for you, that person is your agent.) For example, you may not take out an ad in favor of your opponent that purports to be sponsored by a notoriously unpopular group.
Courtesy of:
http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/pamphlet/G03polad.htm