Workforce Management editor John Hollon and I will have to agree to disagree about the level of political engagement of the American people.

In criticizing the enormous number of hours and column inches devoted to Tim Russert’s untimely death, he slammed “Washington’s fixation and over-fascination with all things political.” He concluded: “The rest of America just isn’t as interested as you are.”

As Workforce Management’s Washington correspondent, I am one of those capital denizens who is fixated and fascinated by politics.

But I have a lot of company outside the Beltway. Thanks to the fierce battle for the Democratic presidential nomination this year, ratings for political coverage are sky high. Print stories are likely also on the rise. Just look at The Wall Street Journal for evidence.

The Society for Human Resource Management has taken advantage of this trend to raise its profile. Last fall, the organization became a sponsor of CNN election coverage as well as on Fox News and Fox Business Network.

Ads for SHRM also appear in BusinessWeek, the Harvard Business Review and on National Public Radio’s Marketplace Morning Report and Conversations from the Corner Office.

The effort to increase SHRM’s exposure has been more successful than anticipated. SHRM numbers indicate the total impressions (i.e., one person’s single viewing) from January 5 to May 31 was 1.692 billion across all media—television, radio, print, online. CNN had guaranteed 124,237,000 impressions from people 35 and older, according to SHRM. It delivered 215,716,000.

SHRM won’t disclose the amount of money it has spent on this advertising campaign. It is taking the funds from its reserves, which are expected to total $160 million this year. SHRM officials say the reserves are used for investments that advance the HR profession.

My guess is the rotation for SHRM ads costs millions of dollars, based on my modest knowledge of political advertising buys. SHRM says it’s worth it because they’re educating non-HR people about the field.

“The value of engagement is far greater than the price we paid,” says China Miner Gorman, SHRM’s chief operating officer and soon-to-be acting CEO.

The departing CEO, Susan Meisinger, has received positive feedback from members. “They love the message that is with the ads,” Meisinger said at a media availability to open the SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition on June 22 in Chicago.

There is anecdotal evidence that the ads helped bolster the meeting, which drew 13,435 paid attendees in the teeth of an economic downturn and climbing gas prices.

Mike Losey, former SHRM CEO, says that one person he talked to got sponsorship for a trip to Chicago only after her boss saw a SHRM ad on CNN.

“I’m not an advocate for spending all that money,” Losey says. “But maybe it is a strategy.”

Whether advertising investment directly benefits the profession is debatable. But one thing is certain: SHRM’s timing is good. This year, more than ever, most Americans are obsessed with politics.