Politics | John McCain McCain Hopes $6M Olympic Ad Buy a Winner Last-minute grab, rare in national reach, tops Dem's $5M outlay By Kevin Spak Posted Aug 5, 2008 2:02 PM CDT Copied A member of the Secret Service stands guard next to a screen with John McCain, as McCain delivers the keynote speech to the National Urban League Annual Conference, Aug. 1, 2008, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Athletes won’t be the only competitors when the Beijing Olympics open Friday, Advertising Age reports: John McCain’s campaign made a last-minute, $6 million ad buy with NBC, topping the whopping $5 million Democratic opponent Barack Obama is spending. The large national scope of the advertising blitz is a rarity in recent presidential campaigns. “For the same reason the idea was good for Barack, it is good for McCain. It's high traffic for eyeballs in a normally low-traffic time of year,” said one media analyst, who also thinks McCain needs to burn his primary-season funds, which can’t be spent after the Republican National Convention. Read These Next Iran's leaders ditched their phones. Their bodyguards didn't. It's an unexpected footnote in the life of Buford Pusser. Bobby Prevost's childhood home is a new pilgrimage site. After rowing across Pacific, brothers want pizza and beer. Report an error