Pat Dollard | Young Americans

WASHINGTON - In the clamor of Democrats assailing President Bush on Iraq, presidential candidate John Edwards has found a way to be heard after Bush addresses the nation Thursday night: He’s buying time for a rebuttal.

Edwards has bought two minutes of air time on MSNBC, scheduled to air after Bush’s 15-minute televised speech from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT.

The ad was taped at Edwards’ home in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the style of an Oval Office address, with him sitting at a desk and speaking straight to the camera, with American flag in the background.

Edwards has been pushing Congress—including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, his top rivals—to block any war funding that does not include a withdrawal date from Iraq. That challenge was part of his ad, allowing him to pack in criticisms of the president and his primary opponents in one shot.

“Tell Congress you know the truth,” Edwards says. “They have the power to end this war and you expect them to use it. When the president asks for more money and more time, Congress needs to tell him he only gets one choice—a firm timeline for withdrawal.”

Bush is expected to announce plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by up to 30,000 by next summer, but say that he will condition those and further cuts on continued progress.

“Unfortunately, the president is pressing on with the only strategy he’s ever had—more time, more troops, and more war,” Edwards says in the ad, according to excerpts provided by his campaign.

The extended air time is an innovative way for Edwards to get his message out as the primary race enters its final months and voters begin to pay more attention.

Republican Fred Thompson tried a similar tactic to insert himself into a Republican presidential debate that he skipped on the eve of his entry into the race. But the time he bought on Fox News Channel was the standard 30 seconds.

In the Democratic presidential primary in 2004, some candidates bought half-hour blocks to speak at length about their campaigns. But those infomercials were in small, inexpensive media markets. Edwards chose a national cable audience for a spot that industry experts estimated would cost between $100,000 and $150,000.

“Something like this generates three times the media cost because of the echo factor,” said Evan Tracey, who tracks political advertising as chief operating officer for TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group. “You become part of the dialogue the next day.”

Such an ad also can pay for itself sometimes by becoming a fundraising vehicle. The Edwards campaign planned to e-mail supporters to encourage them to watch and provide them with a link for making a donation.

Bush’s speech will endorse the recommendations made by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker during two days of hearings in Congress this week. But officials said Bush will place more conditions on reductions than his general did, insisting that conditions on the ground must warrant cuts and that now-unforeseen events could change the plan.

In the ad, Edwards says Bush’s refusal to end the war is another in a series of wrong moves, including the increase of troops in January and his veto in May of a plan to end the war.

(AP)

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