FIRST PERSON | It's December and I live in New Hampshire. Usually, this means cold weather and a lot of snow. But in the year before a presidential election, it always means an inordinate amount of campaign advertising running on TV, in newspapers and on the radio. This year, though, I have been able to watch TV uninterrupted by annoying campaign advertising. The only campaign ad I can remember seeing in the past couple of weeks is for Mitt Romney. Where are the ads for Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry? Where are Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman? Where is Ron Paul?
According to the Boston Globe, GOP candidates have only spent $923,385 on campaign ads this year compared to more than $3.9 million at this point in 2007. This adds up to a distinct paucity of advertising in New Hampshire, and it leaves me wondering why.
Generally, New Hampshire is the epicenter of retail politics during an election cycle. It's where candidates come to meet people, shake hands and kiss babies. It's where the people get out to see the candidates, to look them in the eyes and take their measure.
With the lack of media spending, one would think the candidates would be spending more time in the state glad-handing the people. In the case of Huntsman, that would be accurate. At this point, Huntsman nearly qualifies for state residency.
The Washington Post offers a campaign tracker that shows that Huntsman has visited the state 25 times in the last 30 days. Ten times more than Rick Santorum, 14 more times than Romney and 25 more times than Bachmann.
Huntsman's attention to New Hampshire has him running in a solid third place, but he's still 25 percentage points behind Romney.
This lack of advertising may indicate the GOP field is handing New Hampshire to Romney. With the commanding lead Romney has held in the state through the summer, the campaigns are spending their money in higher profile battleground states.
This apathy demonstrated for New Hampshire by the GOP candidates will lead to voter apathy during the primary, which will lead to voter apathy during the general election. With the current condition of the U.S. economy, and the partisan deadlocks happening in Congress, the GOP cannot afford to have an apathetic base if they expect to mount a successful challenge to President Barack Obama.
It's time for the serious GOP candidates to step up their advertising as we head into primary season, and to energize their supporters. If they start getting the message out now, once a candidate is chosen, it'll be easy to keep the energy level high moving into November 2012.
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