Obama, flush with cash, buys up primetime network TV

Well it looks like Barack Obama can have the stage all to himself after all -- and he doesn't need John McCain to suspend his campaign to do it. The Democratic nominee for President is going the route of Matthew Lesko, Miss Cleo and Richard Simmons. He's doing an infomercial.

Prime time

The Obama campaign is buying up the equivalent of waterfront property on the airwaves, purchasing 30-minute blocks of prime time on CBS and NBC. Expensive? Very. Although campaigns receive discounted rates, it's not like he's buying a combo meal at Burger King. It's still estimated to cost $2 million per episode.

But he's got the money to do it. You think Obama is glad he changed his mind on the campaign public financing thing?

While there are plenty that called that move one of a master flip-flopper, Obama's got so much cash that he can now ignore those critics and buy up air time. At least for 30 minutes at a time.

Savvy buy

The Obama show will air at 8p.m. (EDT) on Oct. 29. That's a savvy buy. Oct. 29 is the anniversary of the stock market collapse known as Black Tuesday. The day that ushered in the Great Depression.

Although there is no official word, The Vote is predicting Obama just may bring up the economy during the 30-minute address.

The Associated Press reports that CBS is already moving its lineup around to accommodate the politician. An episode of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is getting bumped back -- leading many to ask profound questions like: "Is that an actual television program?"

Word has it Obama is also looking at buying time on ABC and Fox. The difficulty with Fox, however, is that the World Series might interfere with his schedule.

Sports

If Major League Baseball is going through the same "difficult" financial challenges that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced earlier this week, perhaps Obama could just buy up the league, thereby getting his message out and saving America's pastime.

(Memo to Goodell: The average NFL ticket costs $72. The minimum salary for a rookie is $285,000. The average NFL salary is $1.7 million. It's the most popular sport in the country with more than 17 million fans attending games last season. Roger, baby, it'll be all right.)

Equal time

The McCain camp will be offered equal time. But because McCain opted for public financing, he has a smaller war chest. It will be difficult for him to afford the buy.

Perhaps he could work out a deal with NBC. Maybe he could do a sitcom with a bunch of 30-somethings and call it "My Friends".