Given the general feel around these parts that the Olympics are basically an embarrassing spectacle and a bane on any city foolish enough to host them, it’s no surprise that they have attracted the attention of the Obama campaign. After all, why should the Chi-Comms be the only ones to use the games for crass political benefit?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign has bought $5 million worth of advertising time from NBC Universal to run TV spots during the Olympic Games, a source familiar with the deal said on Wednesday.
The package, believed to be an unprecedented political media buy for the Olympics, includes commercials that will run on the NBC network and cable channels such as USA, MSNBC and CNBC during the August broadcast of the Summer Games, the source said.
Both NBC and Obama’s campaign declined to comment.
NBC Universal, a division of General Electric Co., is planning carry a record 3,600 hours of Olympic coverage across its broadcast, cable TV and online outlets. Live web streaming of events will account for about 2,200 hours of the coverage.

Now that he has broken his promise to stick to public financing, Obama can afford to advertise during a lot of those 3,600 hours of coverage.