Mitt Romney is currently running ads on cable news. The ads aren’t in heavy rotation (nothing like Dan Marino for Slim-Fast or Head-On, that’s for sure) but I can’t see what advertising 8 months before the first primary/caucus does to help you besides burn money.
Heh, last month he was running ads on the Boston Fox affiliate. Really sad to think that the prior governor of MA can’t rely on the New Hampshire vote.
It seems he has more money than support. He gains nothing by saving it, he needs to establish a presence now, 8 months from now will be too late.
It wouldn’t help Clinton or McCain, but Romney needs to gain name recognition. And since he’s outraised the GOP field, he can afford this and still have plenty to outspend his opponents when its really important.
This is how Dean built up name recognition. He raised a ton of money and ran ads, among other things. Dean was obviously a more grassroots candidate, but the concepts are similar. Small state governors need to get a head start. Warner was doing the same thing before he dropped out.