Campaigns make big financial push for final two weeks
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama get aggressive on Oct. 16 during the second presidential debates at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
With just over two weeks left until election day, both presidential campaigns are spending big to win over the last few undecided voters.
The New York Times reports that both campaigns are funneling cash into states where they feel vulnerable. President Obama's campaign is spending heavily in North Carolina and Florida, both states that are deadlocked or have been leaning slightly toward Mitt Romney.
The Romney campaign is investing in ads in Ohio, where polls show him slightly, but consistently, running behind the President.
Since neither campaign is using public funds for the election, they are both free to spend a much cash as they'd like.
Reuters reported Sunday that strong fundraising by the Republican Party has given Romney a big financial edge over Obama.
According to Reuters, the Republican team including the Romney campaign, the Republican National Committee and the party's Super PAC jointly had $183.1 million in cash on hand at the end of September. Team Obama, the campaign and the Democratic party, had $149.1 million.
The Obama campaign on its own is far outraising Romney, but combined with the fundraising strength of the Republican National Committee, it pushes Romney ahead of the president.
The Republican candidate may have more cash on hand to finish October, but disclosures about September's spending have been raising some questions.
The LA Times reports that the Romney campaign spent just $37 million on ads in September, according to its report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission. The whole campaign spent just under $55 million in operating expenses that month.
The Obama campaign far outspent their challenger by pouring $88 million into advertising in September.
According to CNN, 2012 campaign ad spending is continuing to break records.
Their consultant CMAG/Kantar Media said that eight of the nine battleground states have seen at least double – and in some cases more – the spending on broadcast commercials that they saw four years ago.
They cite New Hampshire as having seen more than three times and Colorado and Virginia have seen twice as much as in 2008.
The good news? Ad-weary voters in swing states only have to endure 16 more days before they can watch TV in peace.