Bush Targets Club Members

WASHINGTON, DC — In an effort to persuade busy and undecided voters, President George Bush ran campaign ads in 250 clubs in key battleground states during the last two weeks of August.

The ads, which featured an Olympics theme (and also ran on cable networks during the Olympics), appeared on the private television network of Pittsburgh-based ClubCom Inc., which reaches 8 million people each month with its entertainment and commercials for televisions in health clubs, including Gold's Gym and Powerhouse Gym. This was the first time that political ads appeared in fitness facilities on a private television network.

The ads appeared in 21 media markets in swing states Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and the cities of Washington, D.C., and New York City.