Also notable is the fact that Kerry has been the apple of the eye of the media in the US and has been getting more praise from journalists than any other presidential candidate in the last quarter-century, as per the analysis done by Center for Media and Public Affairs. The agency's director Bob Lichter was quoted in a media report as saying, "It's not just that John Kerry has gotten better press than President Bush before this election, he's gotten better press than anyone else since 1980. That's significant."

The study states that in the last seven elections since 1980, the Democratic candidate has got significantly better press in four of those elections and that Republicans fared better in the press than Democrats in only one race - George H W Bush over Michael Dukakis in 1988.

The campaign ads ran on national cable networks, but most aired on local television and radio stations in the 17 most competitive states. In the final two days of the campaign, commercials were focused on nine states where the polls showed that the race was extraordinarily tight.

One media report said that the primary reason for the record spending was the 2002 campaign finance reform law, which barred political parties from collecting corporate and union money. So, parties hustled to raise money from individuals.

Some of the other reasons of this mega spend was that the constant stream of general election ads began months earlier than in previous elections.