When You Don’t Let Media Buyers Make the Buying Decisions

One of the pet peeves of many who watch Democratic campaigns is the weird obsession with broadcast TV buys over cable TV buys.  The Nicki Tsongas race involved huge broadcast buys that were a waste of money given they were targeting people in the area who could not vote in MA-5.  Republican candidates often use cable buys to more effectively target buys geographically and even more so, reach likely voters by picking shows with the right demographics.

The theory is that because of the way many Democratic Ad makers take a percentage of ad buys, it encourages choices to go on broadcast.

Pera’s campaign has gone cable:

From now until late-December the ad will be regularly appearing on a cable channels

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/pzC9TOpg1lc" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Also, CQ chimed in on the race:

Challenger: Democrat Mark Pera, Illinois’ 3rd District ($240,000 raised, $181,000 cash-on-hand)
Incumbent: Rep. Dan Lipinski ($305,000 raised, $321,000 cash-on-hand)
Primary: February 5
Pera, a lawyer, is running to Lipinski’s left and criticizing the incumbent’s votes against abortion and embryonic stem cell research, while the incumbent will emphasize a record that includes service on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Other Democratic candidates in the Feb. 5 primary election include Palos Hills mayor Jerry Bennett, who reported receipts of $56,000 and cash-on-hand of $50,000, and lawyer Jim Capparelli, who took in $12,900 and has $4,400 left to spend.

If you want high comedy, check out Capparelli’s report that is almost as bad as Mike Kelly’s last cycle.  Not one donor has an occupation or employer listed.