Olympian fund-raiser Obama is asking NBC about buying Olympic ad packages.

Ira Teinowitz, the ace Advertising Age reporter–who knows the political ad spending business–he got his start covering Illinois politics back in the day–reports from inside the Obama ad shop about Obama’s plans to buy national TV time during the Olympics. LINK

Advertising Age excerpt…

Though the Obama campaign is keeping mum about whether it will definitely run spots, it has asked NBC Universal about Olympics advertising including $500,000, $2 million and $4 million packages of ads. (NBC presented those along with a $10 million package.) It’s not only a sign that the Obama camp has faith it can continue its stellar fundraising achievements but a signal that a widening field of battleground states has the candidate contemplating national broadcast buys. An Olympics buy could also allow Mr. Obama to reach out to a large swath of women.

Exploring options

“Obviously our buyers, when contemplating the election, look at a variety of options,” said Jim Margolis, the GMMB partner who co-chairs the Obama advertising team. “You will probably see us looking at lots of things. There is a big difference between looking and buying.”

There’s also a big difference between Team Obama and Team McCain. Sen. John McCain’s campaign has inquired about Olympics rates but hasn’t asked for specific packages. Besides, with the Republican candidate lagging far behind in fundraising, such buys would take a huge chunk out of his budget before the conventions.