US mid-term polls: Recession be damned

By conservative estimates the US Democratic Party, along with Republicans and independent candidates, will have raised and spent upwards of $3.5 billion in the three odd months canvassing for their candidates leading up to the mid-term polls. With $1.75 billion slated to be spent in media advertising alone, it should be safe to assume that a like amount, atleast, would be required for other expenses.

According to a Los Angeles Times report candidates and parties have launched an advertising blitz that will see them spend a record $1.75 billion, with most of the money going to local TV stations. The venerable US Postal Service and radio stations follow in descending order, with the Internet last in the order of preferences.

This even as president Barack Obama, hat in hand, heads for India and other Asian nations in the next 72 hours seeking increased export and employment opportunities for his fellow Americans. On his trip he will ensure that he meets no 'outsourcers,' that he will refer to the tough times that his country's economy faces and drop hints that other nations should be prepared for some protectionist measures at his end as he battles to revive a slumbering US economy.

The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a non-partisan watchdog, calls the 2010 mid-term elections the most expensive ever, with candidates displaying overflowing warchests and outside groups flooding the airwaves with political messages. It estimates that for the 2010 midterms conservative groups, outside party election committees, have already spent $190 million, in support of the Republican candidates. This compares to slightly less than $100 million for outside groups spending in favour of Democrats.

Media pundits predict that TV stations nationwide will soak up two-thirds of the campaign dollars- about $1 billion. Commercial radio is expected to collect $125 million, while direct mail campaigns will attract spending of at least $325 million.

Internet sites, surprisingly, will attract only about $25 million, less than 2 per cent of the total. Media pundits ascribe this lack of interest to the fact that the stakes in this particular election are too high for experimentation with a medium that may not be too effective.