Obama’s ‘Shock and Awe’ Campaign

In an earlier post we told you that the GOP was worried about Senator Barack Obama’s ability to raise large sums of money for the general election campaign. In a new piece on CNN.com, Political Director Mark Preston lays out Obama’s “Shock and Awe” campaign.

Obama’s decision to forgo public financing for his presidential campaign provides him with the tools needed to implement a “Shock and Awe” television ad strategy designed to paralyze John McCain’s campaign, an expert on political TV advertising said in an interview with CNN.

Barack Obama’s forgoing public funding will allow him to buy TV ads to put more states in play.

The better-funded Obama is likely to force McCain to spend money on TV ads in Arkansas, Georgia and North Carolina, said Evan Tracey, CNN’s consultant on political television advertising. At this point in the campaign, these are states that CNN projects McCain has an edge over the Illinois Democrat, but by no means are these states safely in the Arizona Republican’s column.

Obama is expected to raise three or four times the $85 million he would have received from the public financing system, providing him with a huge financial advantage over McCain, who has opted to take the public funds.

Tracey, chief operating officer of TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group, notes that Obama used a similar advertising strategy against Hillary Clinton in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama spent $10 million in Pennsylvania on TV ads — a state Clinton was heavily favored to win and did so by 10 percentage points.

Obama’s decision to pour millions of dollars into Pennsylvania forced Clinton to spend more money in the state than she would have wanted to in order to secure a convincing victory. But it came at a cost, because she had less money to dedicate to the remaining primary contests including North Carolina and Indiana. She lost North Carolina by a wide margin and won Indiana only by two percentage points.

Will this strategy be enough to stretch McCain’s resources thin, therefore impeding his ability to contest Obama in the battleground states?

Let us know what you think.