Campaign Notebook: Obama buys half hour of TV prime time NOTEBOOK

Obama buys TV time on Black Tuesday

Barack Obama is buying a half-hour slot on television networks in prime time on Oct. 29, the anniversary of Black Tuesday of 1929, when panic in the stock markets set in ahead of the Great Depression.

Leaving a campaign stop in Georgetown, Ohio, on Thursday, Obama declined to say whether he planned to address the current crisis in the context of the depression.

He wouldn't talk about the nature of the programming, saying, "We're going to be talking about it tomorrow."

Linda Douglass, a senior adviser to Obama, confirmed Thursday the campaign has purchased time on NBC and CBS. She said that the campaign would buy airtime on Fox, unless it is carrying a World Series game that night, and that no arrangement had been made with ABC.

The last candidate to make such a purchase was Ross Perot in 1992.

Is failing market Libertarian gold?

Private markets fail, politicians from both parties jump to their rescue, and taxpayers get stuck with the bill. Libertarian candidatecouldn't have scripted a better story line to argue that Republicans and Democrats are interchangeable — with a helpless addiction to spending.

Can Barr capitalize on it? Republican strategists fear any gains he makes could come at the expense of their ticket because Barr's economic views are closer to those of John McCain than to Obama.

Polls so far aren't registering a shift to the Libertarian candidate in spite of widespread outrage over the $700 billion rescue package. The former GOP congressman from Georgia is languishing with about the same 1 percent share of support he's had for months.

But Barr is sharpening his attacks on McCain, hoping fiscal conservatives frustrated over McCain's support for the bailout will join his campaign. Barr says traffic on his Web site is spiking and donations are picking up.

"This illustrates just how far the Republican Party in particular has slid," Barr said. "One would expect it from the Democrats, but for Republicans to be championing this massive government intervention ... is unbelievable."

Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman, said the campaign is not concerned because McCain has a consistent record of fighting wasteful spending and supporting what is in the national interest, not "what's politically expedient."