Behind-scenes clout of media buyers felt in campaign season.

For all the political muscle and fundraising prowess mobilized by opponents and supporters of the 16 initiatives scheduled to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot, much of the behind-the-scenes attention is being devoted to a small group of media buyers.

A handful of firms possess the relationships and clout to drive home a message in a short time, and as the campaigns heat up, their impact will be more pronounced.

While access to money goes a long way toward buying the best slots, many of the firms involved in media buying are boutiques such as Encino's Target Enterprises Ltd., Green Stripe Media in Newport Beach and Greer Margolis Mitchell Burns in Santa Monica, whose core clientele is political.

Among conventional media-buying firms, Interpublic Group of Companies, Initiative and Palisades Media Group Inc. control vast commercial accounts that assure access when they pick up the phone.

"It is a question of negotiations, understanding the audience and buying strategies," said Chuck Winner, president of Encino-based Winner & Associates, a unit of Publicis Groupe. "You don't want someone who is going to get you the off-the-rack rate, but it's not just negotiations. It is understanding the value of a specific buy."

Winner's firm, which has traditionally worked with Republican candidates, has been retained by supporters of Proposition 71, authorizing slate spending on stem cell research, and I A, which would prevent the state from drawing on local property and sales tax revenues. It is also working with those opposed to Proposition 68, which would authorize non-tribal gaming unless Indian tribes with gambling interests agree to give 25 percent of the revenues to the state.

As in past elections, Winner said he plans to buy media time using Target, an 18-year-old company that claims to place $100 million in media annually and has most often aligned with Republican candidates and causes.

Apart from established relationships with the media outlets selling ad inventory, companies buying large chunks of time tend to move to the front of the line.

"Those people are golden," said Hal Dash, president of political consulting firm Cerrell Associates Inc. "With 16 initiatives, if you don't want to find your spots running at 3 a.m. you better have someone who can leverage their buys to get you on prime time. Remember, you have the new fall shows and the World Series right before the election. There is going to be fierce competition to get on."

Dash said that the presence of 16 issues only stands to confuse voters and fatten the coffers of media outlets.

"The process creates a huge ballot," he said. "So all it means is that the TV and radio stations get filthy rich."

With a number of media buying firms around, candidates and causes have some leeway in shopping for a finn to take them on.

Still, it is expected that only half the 16 measures now on the ballot will be the focus of big money campaigns. Getting an initiative on the ballot alone costs about $1 million, and generating a noticeable statewide presence on television requires at least $5 million.

There are those who believe political capital can overcome even the most daunting war chest.

The support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for opponents of Propositions 68 and 70, for example, was seen in some measure counterbalancing the deep-pocketed gambling interests investing in the passage of the two initiatives.

"You can't put a price tag on three minutes of the governor on the 5 o'clock news," said Mitch Zak, vice president and partner of Randie Communications, a Sacramento media and political consulting company working on Propositions 68 and 70.

Some political veterans maintain that media buyers have no more influence in a campaign than a waiter has in the quality of food served at a restaurant.

"I don't look at won-loss records or their political leaning--that is irrelevant," said Democratic strategist Garry South, president of the Garry South Group. "l want someone who gets my spots on the air quickly and bandies any legal challenges that may come up if someone tries to take them off the air."

South, who ran Gray Davis" successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1998 and 2002, is working against Proposition 68. In addition, he is opposing Proposition 67, a measure that would impose a tax on phone bills to pay for emergency trauma care services. He is also working in favor of Proposition 62, which would allow primary election voters to vote regardless of their party affiliation.