According to a piece by Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post's The Fix, Obama Outspending McCain Nearly 3 to 1 on Television. and it is this
financial edge that is almost certainly contributing to the momentum for the Illinois senator in key battleground states.
This is basically a case of your contribution dollars at work, because, along with the money we've provided to support Obama's historically excellent ground game, he's also got the money to go on the air with his message of hope and change.
So how is Obama spending your money--and how is McCain spending his rather smaller slice of the pie?
In the week ending Oct 6 (9/30-10/6)
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.
How wisely is each campaign spending its money. Let's look at a few details. I won't try to reproduce the full chart which you can find linked the the article by Cillizza, but here are some salient facts.
Despite being down in available cash, McCain (w/ the RNC) is spending significantly more in Iowa (298K-224K) and Minnesota (377K-196K) than Obama. Yet these states now seem to be out of reach for McCain. Some wasted money there. McCain is somewhat behind Obama in TV spending in PA, NM, NH, MI and WI, but still, that's where the lion's share of his money is going. These are states into which McCain has poured precious resources but also states that seem to be rolling firmly into the Obama fold. Interestingly, the campaigns are almost dead even in Ohio spending, but this former tossup state has recently been declared an Obama leaner by pollster.com.
Meanwhile, Obama is on offense in several critical states where McCain's defensive effort has been decidedly weak. The most extreme of these are FL (O 2.9M-McC 623K), VA (O 1.6M-909K), NV (0 765K-McC 393K) and NC (0 1.5M-Mc 137 K).
So Obama has outspent McCain (and the RNC) more than 4x1 in FL, nearly 2x1 in VA and NV, and more than 10x1 in NC. No wonder he's gaining ground in these states.
Interestingly, McCain is now making an effort in IN. Although Obama is outspending him there, McCain is not far behind and is clearly worried and is starting to play defense. Too bad for McCain that he didn't bother with an IN ground game.
Overall, we are seeing a McCain campaign that at least through Oct 6 still thinks of itself as on offense in the Midwest, and this may explain why McCain was in Des Moines just a few days ago. They're obviously going to have to re-evaluate that stance. Meanwhile, they've neglected defense in key states like NC, VA, NV and (hardest to understand) FL.
Clearly, its great to have more money this time...a new experience for Democrats. It's also great to see our money used more wisely than our opponents. Obama, Dean and Axelrod's focus on spreading the map into "red" states is clearly being vindicated.
Let me close with a couple of fun facts. McCain didn't spend a cent in Montana, but Obama made a solid investment of 132K. Obviously, they think Montana might still be in play.
Also, Obama has spent 19K to McCain's 9K in Nebraska. Obviously, they're making a modest play for that one electoral vote in the "Omaha" district.