TV as a campaign tool.

• Position: Political campaigns

While candidates for legislative seats seem to be wary of the benefits of television, campaign consultants and other political types say you shouldn't underestimate the power of that face on the screen, even for local candidates.

"Nothing works like TV -- you become an instant celebrity," says Ashley Reed, a former campaign consultant who's now a lobbyist.

"It's the best way to move numbers (in the polls)," says longtime political consultant Marc Hellenthal.

"The first thing you do is television. Then I like to do radio for the last five days at a minimum," he says.

After that, Hellenthal says, campaign resources should go into direct mail, phone banks and other ways of reaching voters. Hellenthal figures the Anchorage Daily News is "just a wee bit too pricey" for effective campaign advertising, though he'll use newspapers in smaller markets across the state.

"The big problem in this game is that most campaigns waste a lot of money," adds Hellenthal. He represents politicians on both sides of the aisle, trying to keep a 50-50 mix.

Politicians can put out major sums for campaign workers, headquarters and the like, then run short of money for ads, he says.

"Sam Cotten (one of Hellenthal's clients) will spend more money on television than (Tony) Knowles spends," he said before the primary, "yet he's raised $300,000 less."

Hellenthal and Reed, as well as other political observers, see less money being spent on political races. Part of that is a change in the ethics law that bars lobbyists from holding fund-raisers for candidates. Hellenthal says the change "hurt certain candidates to some extent."

In addition, says Hellenthal, "the oil industry isn't contributing like it used to. They've kind of toned down."

The reduction in oil industry executives due to layoffs means fewer potential private contributors as well. Max Gruenberg, who's running against Terry Martin in Anchorage, thinks the change could mean a significant gain for the Democratic Party...