ANCHESTER, N.H. - Trying to capitalize on his growing prospects in the Republican presidential race, John McCain's campaign will launch a major advertising buy on Boston television beginning Tuesday.
The Arizona senator is the first of the eight candidates for president to go on the air in the Boston market, which reaches into vote-rich southern New Hampshire. He is also ratcheting up his advertising on WMUR-TV in Manchester, as well as going up on WNNE-TV in Burlington, Vt., to target the western side of New Hampshire.
All told, his 60-second biographical spot should reach 90 percent of all households in the state about 11 times, said Greg Stevens, McCain's media adviser. Additional 30-second ads will be added to the mix later, he said, with the total buy expected to approach $1 million.
In recent weeks, McCain has been moving up steadily in the polls, emerging as the most significant threat to front-runner George W. Bush, the Texas governor. Yesterday, a poll released by Franklin Pierce College and WNDS-TV in Derry put McCain within eight points of Bush, the narrowest margin to date. The margin of error in the poll is 6 percent. McCain advisers said they hope the advertising will cement his gains and further propel his candidacy.
''I don't think there's any disputing that we have some momentum,'' Stevens said. ''If there's anybody in the field who's been gaining ground in the last two months it's John Mc Cain.''
The full-court advertising press comes at a time when Bush has been showing some vulnerability. He skipped two Republican forums in Durham and Hanover, and has been criticized by supporters and opponents for not spending enough time in New Hampshire. Bush said this week he will spend much more time in the first-in-the-nation primary state, but his aides have also explained that he is running a national campaign and needs to travel around the country, too.
By contrast, McCain has made New Hampshire his top priority, followed by South Carolina and California. He has virtually ignored Iowa, home of the first party caucuses in January.
''Both sides are going to run lots of ads, but ultimately this race is going to be decided on the ground by the voters who have a chance to look the candidate in the eye and ask that candidate a question,'' said Dan Schnur, McCain's communications director.
''He doesn't have the money that Bush has, and he doesn't have the heavy hitters in the state like Bush has lined up,'' said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. ''What he has is a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm right now. He's done well in the polls so far because he's gotten out and gotten his face known.''
And while McCain has concentrated his efforts on answering voters' questions at town-hall style forums, Bush has limited his question-and-answer sessions. In Littleton, Tuesday night at the Elks Lodge, the governor took six questions before deciding it was time to quit.
''Two more questions, then I got to go to bed,'' Bush said. It was 7:40 p.m.
When asked Wednesday in Meredith what he thought of McCain's rise in the polls, Bush said he was not surprised.
''He's a good fella, he's a good man,'' Bush said. ''I always expected there was gonna be a contest in this state; there always is in New Hampshire politics.''
Though McCain is beating Bush to the airwaves in Boston, his campaign aides acknowledge that the Texas governor has the upper hand when it comes to money. Bush has raised about $57.7 million and McCain has raised about $9.4 million, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.
''There's no doubt we're still huge underdogs and Bush has millions of dollars...,'' said John Weaver, McCain's political director.
The advertising spot being broadcast from Boston is not a new one. It tells McCain's story of being shot down over Hanoi during the Vietnam War and spending 5 1/2 years in a prison camp. The campaign said it hopes that story will convince voters that he is a man of principle, who should be believed when he says he wants to take on the establishment and defy special interests.
Currently, there are only three other candidates who are advertising on television in New Hampshire: Bush, Steve Forbes, and Vice President Al Gore.
