The AP reports Barack Obama spent $3.3 million in TV advertising on Monday. At that rate the Democrat will spend more than $90 million on ads through Election Day — more than all the money John McCain has to spend on his entire fall campaign. McCain’s ad spend Monday totaled about $900,000 and the Republican National Committee weighed in with about $700,000 worth.
The article said the disparity between Obama and the Republicans is so wide that it has allowed Obama to spend in more states than McCain, to appear more frequently in key markets and to diversify his message by both attacking McCain and promoting his own personal story.
At the same time, outside groups have weighed in on both sides. VoteVets.org, a group critical of Bush war policies, on Wednesday began spending $350,000 on ads in Virginia criticizing McCain for opposing full college scholarships for those who serve three years in the military.
Health Care for America Now, a coalition that includes unions and patient advocates, is airing an ad in Ohio and on national cable criticizing McCain’s health care plan, echoing a similar message in an Obama ad.
Obama is outspending McCain in practically every one of the 14 states the two camps are contesting. One exception is Iowa, where McCain spent more than Obama even though Obama has been sitting on a comfortable lead in the polls.
The biggest discrepancy exists in North Carolina, where Obama spent eight times more than McCain on ads, according to the Wisconsin Advertising Project and TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG.
