Some big surprises in last week's ad spending decisions by the campaigns and their allied Super PACs:
First of all, the Romney campaign spent $15.4 million on the air last week, compared to $19 million
the week before. Are they running out of money? Lucky for them, Karl Rove's Crossroads picked up the slack, going from $9.6 million to $13.2 million. The silver lining for President Barack Obama's terrible first debate is that those millions would be hitting Senate and House candidates today.
Romney's Super PAC, Restore our Future, went from $7.5 million two weeks ago to just $2.4 million this week, and over half of that spending when to Michigan. And no, Michigan still isn't competitive. They keep trying, though!
Priorities USA, Obama's Super PAC, has a budget and they're sticking too it. No changes in spending week over week. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign went from $18.1 million two weeks ago, to $21.2 million this week. And they're pretty much carrying their own weight. I wonder how much they regret shutting down our Super PACs in the early days of their administration.
Looking at the states, Obama have increased spending in every state where they are spending (in other words, everywhere but Michigan and Pennsylvania). Republicans saw their totals drop in Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. North Carolina and Virginia might make sense, as they've opened up small leads in the polls and desperately need a broader playing field. But Wisconsin and Iowa? They are losing both those states, and need to keep them in contention.
So if they spend $7.4 million less in those four states (including a whopping $3.3 million less in Virginia), where are they spending that money? Well, it turns out their overall spending is down by about $4 million. Their cash hoard has limits. The other three million and change went to Florida ($1.2 million), Michigan ($1 million, ha ha ha!), New Hampshire ($800,000) and Ohio ($400,000).
Michigan is particularly interesting. Obama and his allies have spent literally $0 in the state all cycle. Crossroads spent a total of $4.7 million, but gave up in early August. But Restore our Future has spent almost $5.8 million, almost all of it since August, trying to make something happen. Nothing has.
1:42 PM PT: Reminder, Obama's ad cost 2-5 times less than Romney's or the Super PACs:
Voters in Columbus, Ohio, saw 30-second television ads for both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney while watching “Wheel of Fortune” on their CBS affiliate over three days in September. For Obama’s team, the order per spot cost $500. For Romney’s, the price tag on the order was more than five times steeper at $2,800 per ad.
That gap – found in data filed with the Federal Communications Commission — is an outgrowth of an unusual TV-buying strategy by the Romney campaign. Media strategists on both sides of the political aisle, along with station managers who handle ad placement, expressed puzzlement to POLITICO about the way Romney’s TV operation does business.