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Outside groups have accounted for almost half of all ad spending during this presidential general election, according to a First Read analysis of data provided by ad-buying firm SMG Delta.
Groups supporting the presidential candidates but not affiliated with the campaign, including super PACs, have spent $267 million of the $605.7 million spent on television and radio ads.
As NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss, both President Obama and Mitt Romney are facing unrest this week – Obama with continued protests in the Middle East and Romney within his own campaign.
(That overall number is sure to climb, as the Romney campaign is booking buys today.)
That means about 44 cents of every dollar spent on ads this election has come from outside groups.
There’s a big difference between who they’re supporting. Three-quarters of all money spent by outside groups -- $212 million -- has gone to support Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Two-thirds of all the ads run to support Romney, including the campaign, have come from outside groups. By contrast, 20 percent of ads supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election effort have come from outside groups.
OVERALL SPENDING: $605.7 million
Team Obama $286,905,268
Team Romney $318,396,978
OUTSIDE SPENDING: $266,782,619 (44 percent of total)
Team Romney $212,458,408 (67 percent of total)
Team Obama $57,473,660 (20 percent of total)
Outside groups’ spending tracks with the campaigns in some ways with heavy spending in Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. But in states where the campaigns aren’t spending heavily, outside groups have stepped in to account for most of the political advertising to test out messages and try to move the needle, so to speak.
Florida, like with the campaigns, is seeing the most total spending from outside groups -- $58.6 million. That’s just about half of the $121 million total spent in the state.
Next up in total spending: Ohio $42.6 million, Virginia $33.3 million, Colorado $25.1 million, North Carolina $21.2 million, Iowa $19 million, Pennsylvania $14.4 million, Nevada $14.2 million, Wisconsin $13.4 million, New Hampshire $11.9 million, Michigan $10 million.
By percentage of total spending in that state: Michigan 99.9 percent, Wisconsin 92 percent, Pennsylvania 75 percent, Colorado 44 percent, Wisconsin 42 percent, Iowa 40 percent, Virginia 37 percent, North Carolina 37 percent, Nevada 37 percent, Ohio 36 percent.
Strikingly, in every state, outside groups have made up a majority of all ads supporting Romney. In Florida, in particular 73 percent of all ads supporting Romney have come from outside groups.
Though the Obama campaign has spent a whopping $46 million in Florida, outside groups have helped Romney even the score. The Crossroads groups have poured in more than $25 million, the Koch-brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity $9 million, Restore Our Future $8 million, America’s Future Fund $1.4 million, and the American Energy Alliance $850,000. They have combined with the Romney campaign for $60.3 million in the Sunshine State, about what Obama has spent with the help of outside groups -- $60.7 million.
The Obama campaign has gotten some help from outside groups in Florida, but not to the level Romney is benefitting. Priorities USA has spent $12.7 million there, followed by the SEIU $1.5 million, Planned Parenthood $450,000, and MoveOn.org $64,000.
Here’s how it breaks down by state (plus a grand total of how much each group has spent below that):
FLORIDA
OVERALL SPENDING: $121 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $58.6 MILLION (48 percent of total)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $43.8 MILLION OF $60 MILLION (73 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $14.7 MILLION OF $60.7 MILLION (24 percent)
OHIO
OVERALL SPENDING: $116.9 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUPS SPENDING: $42.6 MILLION (36 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $29.9 MILLION OF $53.3 MILLION (56 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $12.7 MILLION OF $63.6 MILLION (20 percent)
VIRGINIA
OVERALL SPENDING: $90.3 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $33.3 MILLION (37 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $22.4 MILLION OF $42.4 MILLION (53 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $10.9 MILLION OF $47.9 MILLION (23 percent)
COLORADO
OVERALL SPENDING: $57 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $25.1 MILLION (44 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $16.4 MILLION OF $27.5 MILLION (60 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $8.6 MILLION OF $29.5 MILLION (29 percent)
NORTH CAROLINA
OVERALL SPENDING: $57.7 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $21.2 MILLION (37 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $21.2 MILLION OF $35.5 MILLION (60 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $10.9 MILLION OF $47.9 MILLION (23 percent)
IOWA
OVERALL SPENDING: $48 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $19 MILLION (40 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $15.8 MILLION OF $25.4 MILLION (62 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $3.2 MILLION OF $22.9 MILLION (14 percent)
PENNSYLVANIA
OVERALL SPENDING: $19.3 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $14.4 MILLION (75 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $11.2 MILLION OF $11.2 MILLION (100 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $3.2 MILLION OF $8.1 MILLION (40 percent)
NEVADA
OVERALL SPENDING: $38.6 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $14.2 MILLION (37 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $13.3 MILLION OF $20.4 MILLION (65 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $874,000 MILLION OF $18.2 MILLION (5 percent)
WISCONSIN
OVERALL SPENDING: $14.5 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $13.4 MILLION (92 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $10.2 MILLION OF $10.6 MILLION (96 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $3.2 MILLION OF $3.9 MILLION (82 percent)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
OVERALL SPENDING: $28.2 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $11.9 MILLION (42 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $11.9 MILLION OF $14.1 MILLION (84 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $0 OF $14 MILLION (0 percent)
MICHIGAN
OVERALL SPENDING: $10 MILLION
OUTSIDE GROUP SPENDING: $10 MILLION (99.9 percent)
OUTSIDE GROUP BREAKDOWN:
PRO-ROMNEY: $10 MILLION OF $10 MILLION (100 percent)
PRO-OBAMA: $10,000 OF $10,000 (100 percent)
Here’s the total of how every group is spending:
Obama $233,604,018
Crossroads GPS $59,977,352 (pro-Romney)
Romney $87,648,202
American Crossroads $48,441,218 (pro-Romney)
Americans for Prosperity $46,517,357 (pro-Romney)
Priorities USA $48,176,176 (pro-Obama)
Restore Our Future $44,408,615 (pro-Romney)
Republican National Committee $18,723,265 (pro-Romney)
Concerned Women for America $4,783,656 (pro-Romney)
America's Future Fund $4,580,908 (pro-Romney)
Americans Energy Alliance $3,201,354 (pro-Romney)
SEIU $2,497,313 (pro-Obama)
Planned Parenthood $1,447,734 (pro-Obama)
Priorities/League of Conservation Voters $979,048 (pro-Obama)
MoveOn.org $166,891 (pro-Obama)
Jill Stein (Green Party presidential candidate) $38,175
TOTAL $605.7 million
*** UPDATE *** The ACLU spending has been taken out of the "pro-Obama" category. The group contends it wasn't advocating for one candidate or the other. The ad it ran advocates for health-care benefits and abortion care for servicewomen who are victims of rape.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Numbers USA spending has also been taken out of the "pro-Romney category. The group is running ads that are anti-immigration, not explicitly support Romney or attacking Obama.
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Easy to see who expects to get favors if Romney wins, huh? He represents the rich and the rich support their man.
Did ya ever get a job from a poor emplyer?
Remember when Fox said Obama is on his way to raising a billion dollars toward his campaign...
What a startling finding. Repugnicans know that the only way to fool voters is to throw as much money as possible into advertising. I wouldn't be particularly surprised if a good chunk of that "outside" money originated quite close to home.
Nothing Mitt Romney is doing is illegal, the Supreme Court opened the flood gates
true get use to a one party system here in the good ol usa until the dems cave and then there is no differnce between the 2 at least now they are buying the elections instead of the 1960's where they had a john kennedy, a boby kennedy , a martin luther king assaigned like they use too , so far obama hasnt been kliled , but a 2nd term god help him
BACKWARD.
To more "flexibility"
BACKWARD.
The Democrat controlled Senate has not passed a budget in 3 years.
BACKWARD.
Retail food price increase, last year 3.7%
Estimate for this year, 3.5-4.5%
Incomes down.
BACKWARD.
Watch out for Americans For Prosperity. The Koch brothers started this group in order to get the government
to do their bidding and to change the laws of this land. The want to get rid of the EPA so that they can pollute our rivers and air. They are already doing this with their Georgia Pacific plant. The politicians who are in their back pocket will not go after them. So listen very carefully to certain code words from politicians and you can tell who is doing their bidding.
QE3 = Proof Obama Isn't Working.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME A US AMBASSADOR WAS KILLED? About 30 years ago, under our second worst president ever until OBUMMER. CARTER. Notice how the news isn't pushing that story? We need leadership in DC. We need a budget. The US credit rating was downgraded to AA- this week. Thanks, Obummer! FOUR AND OUT!!!!!!!!!! Romney/Ryan in 2012
Maybe when Romney spends all his money, we can stick the Dumb Bastar$ in the nut house.
the past 10 years people have been asking me why don't you vote. THIS IS WHY. I have no money I do not count. I will vote when this is not a norm and and person that wins be the one picked by people like me, an avarage citizen.
please vote as i say below one man grover inguist who makes all gop senators and congresman sign his no tax pledge will win everything , they are in a starve the beast mentallity where we must eliminate every fdr entittlement one by one to survive, mean while the top 1% get richer and richer as they benefit from the cheap china working man and every other slave they can controll and the rest of us suffer, yes every depresion there are winners and losers the haves have the bucks to survive this the rest do not, they are now even declaring war on our teachers, our police, our fireman, their model buy a fireextinguisher and protect your selves , send your kids to a private school or educate them yourselves using the net, buy a gun and protect yourselve all government is bad and if you depend on it at all you are is a free loading blood sucker the gop romney/ryan way
just shows you a few gopers think they can buy every election from now on, face it the unions are basically dead what few are left the public sector are being killed off one by one, soon the gop will run everything, interesting to see if they beat obama the only one with somewhat of a war chest to combat the gop machine, face it mitt bought the primaries and soon the presidentcy, all dem senators and house menbers are in question, any gop'er who didnt sign the no tax plan will be targeted heavy next time around , a slow take over of american government by one single man grover,
Gee, wasn't it OBAMA that said he wanted a BILLION dollars?
This article would have NEVER appeared if the spending was the other way around, like it was in 2008 when the UNIONS themselves outspent McCain.
The DEMOCRATS ran everything for TWO YEARS, and we see how that has turned out. Meanwhile the ONLY time in half a century that Republicans ran Congress we had a balanced budget and were actually paying toward the deficit. Good ole Bill just signed off on everything and then went and looked for Monica.
you should heed my warning I speak the truth you follow lies
Ahh it is nice to see that the Obamaites can't argue with facts.
This is why nbcnews.obamabiden2012.com will report on anything BUT the economy.
Lets not forget to put a value on the efforts the main stream media with its 24/7 praises for the chosen one.
That dollar value is thousands of times that of what you think is spent of these elections
Talk about dirty money. In the tens of billions easily.
It's actually attempted election rigging.................should be a capital offence.
The best government that money can buy. Is this a great country or what.
Another reason not to listen to campaign adds.
some of you ignore the grover take over, do you know here in michigan he bought and paid for a constiounal ammendment to make it so it takes a 2/rds majority to pass any tav increase what so ever?? he truly does want to starve the beast, they say no tax increase or wold ever be passed or no loop hole cut, we would basically become a dirt poor state like missouri or kentucky who already have these laws, we would lose u of m, michigan state, western michigan all public colleges all public schools , it would be a on your own mentality, some of you business men welcome this but do you really think you can compete with walmart, bill gates apple all the corpaorate giants who run everything, a menards etc i say no, your failing big time and why the economy is failing face it 5 years ago walmart didnt sell grocies now they sell everthing, their goal knock you off one by one, next plumbing, doctors, already pharmasists to you will all fall, true captialism is like monoply one winner all the rest lose, the romney ryan way
That doesn't have anything to do with starving the beast. Requiring 2/3 votes before raising taxes makes it where governments have to live within their means instead of just raising taxes because they can get a lot of people that don't pay taxes to vote for free services paid for by others.
In 2008, you could not find any information about the 400 million dollars that the unions gave to Obama. Or the 200 million that came from online donations originating from outside the country, mostly in the form of small debit cards, i.e. prepaid Visa and Mastercards.
Meanwhile, the leaders of China, Cuba and Iran all want Obama to win. There may be a lot of things I don't know, but I do know that China, Cuba and Iran are not our friends. The friend of my enemy is my enemy.
basically we will soon be a one government system controlled by the far right gop its happening now , the one world order is upon us, the bible was right , gw bush senior was right he said this would happen well it is , and all this time you goper's thought you were on God's side now you know your not, yet you dont care the almity dollar is worth way more to you than God always was ,always will be, your true God is the almity dollar, how cold you stand behind a known cultist a mormon who feels this way?
FACTS DON'T LIE:
The federal government reports that since President Barack Obama took the oath of office in 2009, unemployment has risen from 7.8 percent to 8.3 percent nationwide. The median income has dropped from $55,000 to $51,000, national debt has risen from $10.6 trillion to $16 trillion (34 percent), and gas prices have risen from an average of $1.84 to $3.82 a gallon (110 percent).
The Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office statistics report that from President George W. Bush’s last year in office, 2008, until now, the budget deficit has risen from $458 billion to $1.29 trillion. That’s a whopping 283 percent! Statistics don’t lie. If a football coach were to have 3 1/2 years of failure, he would be fired. We need to fire Obama and let a new coach try to do better. It certainly couldn’t be worse.
Sure outside groups fund almost all of the campaign. These Already Wealthy people are looking for Favors and Tax breaks for themselves and business'es plus other things too numerous to mention. And the ordinary citizen gets, Zip, Nada, Nothing, Zero, and more of the same. Great country if you are born Wealthy.
Great country, period. Envious, socialist loser.
and the ordinary citizen gets boatloads of handouts, taken from the rich's pockets, thanks to you Democrat clowns.
I don't mind that outside money is being spent as long as it is by US citizens and corporations. That is freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean that they can lie. I would fully support a truth in advertising for political campaigns with huge penalties for ads that intentionally mislead the public.
This NOT "freedom of speech", far from it, this is the raping of The United States of America.
"I don't mind that outside money is being spent as long as it is by US citizens and corporations."
Yeah, support voter ID laws for a non-existent voter fraud problem but PAC money is OK even though we have no idea where it's coming from.
Sure, right.
Everyone loves a winner. In 2008, it was perceived by people with money that Obama would be the eventual winner, so all the donations went to him to buy favors. With Obama's economic record and getting only 37% support among independents, people are betting on Romney.
It is wrong to think of elections in terms of winning or losing. There is the elected and the not elected..Winning, or losing really happens to all of us depending on what happens to the country, the economy, and the world scene AFTER the election. I will vote for Obama, but if Romney should get elected, and the economy improves, I win....as does everyone else, and of course. vice versa Placing terms like winning and losing is what promaues the damaging competition we see even in these posts. Competition brings out the worst in people and I avoid it at all costs in MY life
Obama to Cantor in 2009: Elections have consequences. Eric, I won.
A vote for Obama is a wasted vote. What if Obama wins and everything really goes down the toilet? Then what do you win??
No vote is wasted, it is used. To NOT vote is the waste....If things turn bad, no matter who is elected, we all lose
For the love of God, when we're in the position we are in, in almost every front, why oh why would you ask for more. Leave party out of it. Why do you want more of this?
Fact checkers find that almost all the right-wing super pac disinformation campaign ads are pretty much devoid of anything resembling a fact.
Is lying THE primary right-wing virtue? Or is it simply an attribute of the overwhelming corruption that permeates so-called right-wing politics? Looks more like an attempt to seize [more] power through bribery, kickbacks and vote-buying than anything else.
The same is said of the left-wing super pacs....They might even be worse. How many times have you heard that Republicans want to destroy medicare as we know it?
There's nothing false about that statement. Replacing medicare with a voucher system isn't destroying medicare as we know it ?
You again with your alternate universe.
There's everything false about that statement. Did unions destroy working-life as we know it back in the 30's or did it make it better? I would love to know how you or whomever makes that statement somehow has seen and knows the future. You must be a super-billionaire by now, having that kind of knowledge. You could play the stock market and make massive amounts of money quickly plus all of the winning bets on sports you must be making. Just give me a few of the next few Superbowl (tm) and World Series winners so I can make some extra cash too if you would.
I don't have to see the future to know that a voucher-based system is destroying medicare as we know it.
If you don't see that doing that is changing the very nature of medicare then you're either a)blind, b) willfully ignorant or c) just plain old dumb.
But you didn't say changing the very nature of medicare, you said destroying medicare, which is two entirely different things. Do you lack the basic comprehension skills to tell the difference between the two or are you just naive?
We are now watching "THE BUYING OF THE PRESIDENCY". We are now experiencing the most corrupt transaction since the birth of this nation. God help the American people.
Obama's $745 million in 2008 broke all previous fund-raising records.
And his 2008 funds were all his own campaign fund, mostly from small donors.
Not from unidentified sources that could be anyone and mostly large donors as Romney's PAC funds are.
Why do you insist on being disingenous in every post. Just how much is that PAC paying you ?