Candidates spend record sums on US primaries
The presidential primaries begin on Thursday in the US state of Iowa. The parties spent a lot on the election kick-off: they spent almost 40 million dollars on TV ads in Iowa by the end of the year.
The presidential primaries begin on Thursday in the US state of Iowa: Democrats and Republicans can vote on their candidate for president. The two parties have spent almost 40 million dollars (around 45 million Swiss francs) on TV ads in Iowa up to the end of the year. That is three times as much as in the last election in 2004, as CNN.com writes. By December 29, 50,000 political ads had flickered across the screens in the US state. Democratic candidate Barack Obama spent the most money: According to CNN, he poured 9 million dollars (10 million francs) into around 40,000 spots. His rival Hillary Clinton invested 7.2 million dollars (7.8 million francs). According to CNN, the two leading Republican candidates John McCain and Rudy Guliani are still holding back in Iowa and want to score more points in the states of New Hampshire and Florida respectively.
