WASHINGTON - TV political ads: They're not just for election campaigns anymore.

Right now it's merely a stream, but brace yourselves for a flood of Supreme Court TV issue ads once President Bush names a nominee to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The ads, which will cost tens of millions of dollars nationwide, are part of a growing trend toward year-round political advertising, which analysts say is the result of the development of a large, well-funded and permanent campaign apparatus in American politics.

Even though Kansas isn't expected to be one of the heaviest-hit states, the barrage of issue advocacy ads over the court nomination will be unavoidable in the next few months. And all are being aired in the hope that citizens can turn the tide on an issue they can't even directly vote on.

"It's inevitable that, after 40 years of television being the centerpiece of American politics, that a whole infrastructure would come up to make politics a 365-day-a-year business," said University of Kansas political behaviorist Donald Patrick Haider-Markel .

Currently, supporters of both a more liberal and a more conservative court are airing ads on cable news networks and national news programs, trying to set the tone for the debate regardless of whom Bush nominates for the nation's highest court.

One group supporting conservatives, Progress for America, has already raised $18 million for its efforts. Groups from the left, including People for the American Way and the American Civil Liberties Union, have their own war chests.

And those are only some of the more prominent organizations in the court battle. The next few months will bring out a new crop of noble-sounding, well-financed groups all trying to influence Bush and the U.S. Senate, which will confirm or reject the president's nominee.

The impact of activist groups on politics and political advertising isn't new in American politics, but the intensity is, said Brooks Jackson, director of Annenberg Political Fact Check, a political watchdog group in Washington, D.C.

The rise of so-called "527" groups, named for the provision of campaign finance law that allows unlimited donations to political groups outside political parties, has opened a new spigot to pour money into politics, he said.

"The amount of money spent in politics is related to the amount available," Jackson said.

More money, more ads.

The 527 groups played a major role in the 2004 presidential campaign.

MoveOn.org helped organize Democratic volunteers. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth sharply criticized Democratic nominee John Kerry's war record. After the campaign, Jackson said, many of those groups needed a new reason to exist.

Progress for America, which was formed to help re-elect Bush, started running ads supporting his plan for private accounts within Social Security once the campaign was over. Now it's joining the judicial fight.

And new 527s are forming.

In Wichita earlier this year, ads ran on television stations attacking Sen. Sam Brownback over his vote to create a government-managed asbestos claim trust fund. Those ads were produced by the Senate Accountability Project, a liberal 527 based in Dallas. The group's founder, trial lawyer Mark Iola, said it exists to "promote progressive politics and hold Democrats and Republicans accountable for their votes."

Haider-Markel said the ads undoubtedly meet their goal of putting pressure on lawmakers - but whether they actually change those lawmakers' actions is debatable, especially when Republicans and Democrats are shouting at roughly the same volume in terms of spending.

That doesn't mean the issue is unimportant, he noted. Most Americans are well aware that Bush's court nominee could have a profound impact on decisions regarding abortion, civil rights and other issues.

But a lot of the shouting is the result of too many people with too much money having too much time on their hands, he said.

Interest groups have created a "demand for people who can develop ad campaigns in the middle of July in a non-election year," he said.

Like it or not, year-round political advertising is heading for your TV set.

"You can always TiVo," Haider-Markel joked.