Obama Outspending McCain Nearly 3 to 1 on Television

[Hope And Change]

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives for a technical walk through before a scheduled townhall-style presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama Outspending McCain Nearly 3 to 1 on Television

By Chris Cillizza | October 7, 2008; 3:02 PM ET

Barack Obama is outspending John McCain at nearly a three-to-one clip on television time in the final weeks of the presidential election, according to ad buy information obtained by The Fix, a financial edge that is almost certainly contributing to the momentum for the Illinois senator in key battleground states.

From Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, Obama spent more than $20 million on television ads in 17 states including more than $3 million in Pennsylvania and more than $2 million each in Florida, Michigan and Ohio. McCain in that same time frame spent just $7.2 million in 15 states. Even when the Republican National Committee's independent expenditure spending in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin is factored in (a total of $5.3 million), Obama still outspent the combined GOP forces by roughly $8 million in the last week alone. (See full distribution after the jump.)

The spending edge enjoyed by Obama has been used almost exclusively to hammer McCain as both a clone of the current president and someone who is out of touch on key domestic issues -- most notably the economy. The assertion of Obama's spending edge has coincided with the collapse of the financial industry and a refocusing by voters on the economy to turn the election from a toss up to one in which the Democratic candidate has moved into a discernible lead.

While the struggles of McCain and his party over the Wall Street bailout bill that passed Congress last week after much sturm und drang have been well documented, the practical political impact of Obama's decision to forego public financing for the general election and McCain's choice to accept the $84 million in public funds has not been as fully explored.

Obama's fundraising machine has continued to churn in recent months -- bringing in $67.5 million in August alone and ending that month with more than $77 million on hand. (Reports for September are not due at the Federal Election Commission until Oct. 20.)


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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/10/obamas_spending_edge.html

[ihavenobias]

1. Good, I hope he keeps it up n/t

[Bigleaf]

2. That's up to us. Keep donating everybody!

[ihavenobias]

7. I'm part of the Grassroots Finance Committee. I'll be making a big push after tonight's debate n/t

[Bigleaf]

9. Good stuff. It appears you guys have been successful thus far. I'll have to donate tonight.

:thumbsup:

[SuperTrouper]

3. This is the time to attack and vanquish McCain and Palin. This is the final push

and we are on our way to victory. Hillary is also on board and she and Bill will camp in Florida and I heard that Strickland is on the warpath in Ohio and our beloved Claire is doing serious damage to the McCain Titanic in Missouri. I want a landslide!

[mucifer]

4. can mcstupid buy lots more ads in the last days or is this already paid for?

[Eric J in MN]

5. Obama TV ads are finally in the Twin Cities, again,

...after a break from February 5 until recently.

[Overseas]

6. Yes please GO GO GO !! //nt

[TooRaLoo]

8. That's a calm, collected guy if I've ever seen one. nt