Campaign Cash Trickles Down to Small Biz

Brace yourself -- we've still got 10 months of election hoopla to go.

But lost in that frenzy of big money is some very good news for small businesses: Some of that campaign cash eventually trickles down.

Campaigns have to raise ever more staggering amounts to make it to the end of a two-year ordeal. Hillary Clinton has already raised $90 million, with Barack Obama's $80 million war chest not far behind. Mitt Romney is the leading Republican money man, with $63 million.

Not surprisingly, broadcast TV companies such as CBS(CBS Quote - Cramer on CBS - Stock Picks) and Sinclair(SBGI Quote - Cramer on SBGI - Stock Picks) rake in much of that money as candidates fight it out in a never-ending loop of campaign commercials.

JPMorgan(JPM Quote - Cramer on JPM - Stock Picks) television analyst John Blackledge estimates that $2.2 billion will be spent on political ads for the 2008 presidential race -- almost four times what was spent in the 2004 election.

But as early states like Iowa and New Hampshire become increasingly important, more campaign cash is making it down to the small businesses lucky enough to be on the front lines.

Five Seconds of Fame

Think of all those staged photo ops you've seen on CNN; the candidate hanging out with locals at a folksy diner, or gathering with undecided voters at a café over mugs of cappuccino.

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