Here's last week's ad spending, compared to that fromJune 3 to July 26, in thousands:
Last Week June-July
McCain Obama McCain Obama
Alaska None 88
Colorado 553 522 1,104 802
Florida 1,040 1,327 None 5,028
Georgia None 1,824
Indiana None 263 None 1,268
Iowa 352 148 946 700
Michigan 761 954 2,655 2,240
Minnesota 472 18 575 70
Missouri 353 504 1,600 1,246
Montana None 37 None 136
North Carolina 245 300 None 1,620
North Dakota 1 22 71 157
New Hampshire 225 172 342 391
New Mexico 214 155 440 260
Nevada 365 297 1,134 633
Ohio 812 801 2,568 2,486
Pennsylvania 1,612 948 4,602 3,937
Virginia 312 868 1,509 2,660
Wisconsin 487 432 1,426 1,198
Alaska and Georgia are now off the map. Montana and North Dakota are dirt cheap, so Obama can keep poking at them with chump change to see if they can stay in play. McCain isn't taking the bait and staying away. We'll have a North Dakota poll out in the next day or two so we can see how that state has shaped out.
Do note that while McCain sat out Florida for the summer thinking it was safe, that's no longer the case. The same with North Carolina. And McCain continues to massively outspend Obama in Pennsylvania hoping to close the gap. Finally, Obama continues to pour money into Indiana while McCain prays he can avoid investing anything in the state. However, two post-convention polls suggest that Palin didn't close the deal in the Hoosier state:
Opinion Research for CNN/Time. 9/14-16. Registered voters. MoE 3.5% (No trend line)
Selzer for Indanapolis Star/WTHR. 9/14-16. Likely voters. MoE 4% (No recent poll)
Does McCain really want to keep ignoring Indiana's 11 electoral votes? And I'll have a North Dakota presidential poll coming within the next 48 hours, so we'll soon know if it's still in play.