Photograph of a Singapore restaurant worker adjusting a sign for a lunch promotion by Wong Maye-E/AP
Last night, it was confirmed that Democratic candidate Barack Obama's camp bought 30 minutes of national primetime on CBS and NBC to air on October 29 at 8 p.m. His campaign is also negotiating with ABC as well as Fox, which could have a conflict if there is a Game 6 of the World Series.
Variety explains that the move is "not unprecedented," but unusual since most political advertising is bought at the local level. "But with so many states in play this election, a network buy could be more efficient and economical." The networks that sell time to Obama's camp will have to offer time at the same rate to Republican candidate John McCain, and CBS's statement reads, "We will, of course, make an equivalent opportunity available to Senator McCain and other legally qualified candidates upon request."
And McCain rallies have taken on a Network (the movie) type of feeling, as supporters are becoming angrier. Frustrated that Obama is leading in the polls, and people have been screaming things like "Terrorist!" and "He's a damn liar!" at McCain rallies. At an event yesterday, one man told the crowd, “I’m mad, I’m really mad! And what’s going to surprise ya, is it’s not the economy – it’s the socialists taking over our country... When you have an Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there gonna run this country, we gotta have our head examined!”
McCain, when asked, discussed William Ayers, the Weatherman founder whose ties to Obama have been raised more often in recent attacks from the GOP, and said, "Look, we don’t care about an old washed-up terrorist and his wife who still, at least on Sept. 11, 2001, said he still wanted to bomb more. You know, but that’s not the point here. The point is, Senator Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. We need to know that’s not true." The mention of Ayers' statement on 9/11 is from a NY Times article published on September 11, 2001 (presumably from an interview before then), and Ayers later said his statement about not doing enough was distorted.
Some other odds and ends: The NY Times finds that a small fraction of Obama's donors seem to be fictitious, raising questions about vetting donations. The Times also reports that Sarah Palin, her husband and her staff repeatedly inquired about whether her ex-brother-in-law state trooper would be fired.