What is that sound? It is the sound of implosion.
There is no surer sign of a campaign that is in dire straights than when you start having to cancel your television media buys. With the extremely impacted general election, reserved television space is a much sought after commodity. The fact that the Cruz Bustamante for Insurance Commissioner campaign is now starting to ‘release’ rather than purchase huge chucks of time they had reserved on major stations around the state is terrible news for Bustamante and will only further depress any future ability to raise campaign funds.
With just a little bit of ‘elbow grease’ research, the FlashReport can tell you that some of his media spot cancellations look like this:
SACRAMENTO MARKET
He’s cancelled ALL of his spots on KMAX, KOVR, KTXL, KXTV, and the week of 10/23 on KCRA.
SAN FRANCISCO MARKET
In San Francisco he’s cancelled a week of commercials on KRON, KNTV, KPIX and KICU, and has part of his time on PTVU and KBWB.
MONTEREY MARKET
Cancelled entire buy on KSBW.
FRESNO MARKET
Reserved time on KMPH and KFRE and has cancelled it ALL.
LOS ANGELES
Has cancelled all ads on KCOP, the week of 10/30 on KNBC and KCBS, 75% of his time from KTTV, and cut some of his buys on KCAL and KABC.
SAN DIEGO
He’s cancelled the week of 10/30 on KNSD.
And this was the easy to find stuff. I’m sure there are a lot more plugs being pulled…
These cancellations amount to a huge retreat for the ailing Bustamante campaign. Based on a quick perusal of campaign reports, it is no wonder that the Emperor is having to roll up his red carpet. A campaign that should have millions of dollars to be competitive is sitting with hundreds of thousands instead.
Bustamante appears to be in a sink hole — and with even his liberal friends in the media abandoning him (I think virtually every newspaper editorial board in the state has endorsed his opponent, Steve Poizner) — he’s not in good shape.
Oh yes, I don’t think it’s likely that Poizner will be canceling any airtime, do you? As a matter of fact, maybe he’s busy buying up what Cruz isn’t using…
[UPDATE: At 5:45 pm, added these cancellations to the list…]
October 21st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Well, I am surprised that Bustamante didn’t try and sell his ‘options’ to other campaigns (not Poizner), leave the cash in the campaign and then declare himself the recipient.
October 21st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Just what the Democrats needed during the last couple of weeks of the campaign — having several news cycles dominated by Bustamante and his implosion. Now Cruz is going to be frantically spinning that his campaign is doing fine and he’s merely re-deploying resources, while pundits and newspaper editorial pages will be debunking his claims and speculating on the consequences. The more Cruz tries to deny the reality, the more insincere and detached from reality he’ll sound.
If it was just one race, the Democrats could write it off and concentrate on others. But this isn’t just any candidate, it is Cruz Bustamante, the guy who was creamed in the recall election by Schwarzenegger and McClintock. Cruz in the news serves to recall that recall to the minds of voters in a way that isn’t favorable to the Democrats. It brings back all the bad associations with Gray Davis, and all the excitement of electing the Governator, and all the respect that McClintock garnered even from Democrats (many of whom were giving Tom a pass or promoting him in hopes he’d drain votes from Arnold).