The use of so much, text, however, has led to complications, they said. They cited as a prime example a Republican ad that flashed the word "rats" across the screen when referring to "Democratic bureaucrats." Both Strother and Davis agreed that this was more likely the work of a quick-witted technician than any subliminal advertising on the part of the GOP camp.

Polls, Strother explained, have also allowed the candidates to focus in on the most important audience in this election: women.

"I can't emphasize enough that this entire election is now aimed at women, who tend to make up the majority of swing voters," he said.

Due to the importance of women, the issue platform for most ads has shifted sharply to the democratic issues about which women care, specifically education and health care, the consultants said.

This shift, Davis said, means that the majority of Bush ads, most of which have female voices as narrators, are now trying to actively wrest control of these issues from the traditional Gore territory.

Bush has been most effective, he further noted, in addressing the issue of Gore's character. An ad that features women expressing disdain while viewing clips of the vice president at the famed Buddhist temple fundraiser and making his claim that he had invented the Internet incited the most reaction from the members of the audience, who cheered when the ad was aired at the forum.

Gore, they said, is actively trying to beat the Republicans at their own game too, by stressing his "family values" and his service in Vietnam in his ads, especially in southern states that are now more likely to vote for Bush.