HOW TO RUIN THE SUPER BOWL

This is not a good idea.

WASHINGTON -- Drink beer, eat candy, buy a car. Now add a new pitch to next year's lineup of Super Bowl television ads: Vote for me.

...As states line up to hold presidential primaries on the first Tuesday in February, the Feb. 3 Super Bowl could look super inviting and super expensive to presidential campaigns eager to deliver a knockout punch.

"That is a very ripe and timely target," said Mark McKinnon, chief media strategist for President Bush in 2000 and 2004 and now an adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. "It would reach a huge audience at a very critical time. I think campaigns will look very closely at that."

That campaigns would give serious thought to advertising on Super Bowl Sunday illustrates how a packed primary schedule in early February could upend the traditional pace and the time-tested strategies of presidential elections.

...A 30-second spot in this year's Super Bowl cost as much as $2.6 million — enough to consume the proceeds of a recent Clinton fundraising gala in Washington, D.C. Politicians can get a bit of a break, though, because under federal law they are entitled to the lowest rate charged in that time slot for that broadcast. That could shave a few hundred thousand dollars off the top price.

And the ad better be good.

"You can't run your same old schlock on the Super Bowl," Tracey said. "You probably have to pay a higher price for doing that."

It could be worth it.

Consider that 94.1 million people watched this year's Super Bowl game, according to Nielsen Media Research. Consider, too, that the most-watched moment of the broadcast, as measured by TiVo rewinds and downloads, was not a highlight of the game but an ad for Bud Light.

Of the more than 20 states contemplating or already scheduled to hold a Feb. 5 primary or caucus, 14 have a total of 18 NFL teams. Chances are good that a primary state will have a team in the game with a sizable and attentive audience to boot.

What's more, a good Super Bowl ad benefits from vast media attention, extending the buzz it generates for days. "If your spot is really good, you can end up quadrupling the benefit of that ad," said Tobe Berkovitz, associate dean of communications at Boston University and an expert on political advertising.

But, Berkovitz cautioned: "You run a piece of junk and you're going to take a hammering that will be incredibly destructive to your campaign."

The Super Bowl is not the time for political advertising.

Can you imagine seeing Hillary sandwiched between a Budweiser and a Cialis commercial?

I don't think Vince Lombardi would approve.