Nobody is noticing but Democrats are absolutely flooring the GOP with SuperPACs

[Bacon King]

Just noticed this while I was looking something up and it was notable enough that it sidetracked me so I dug more in depth. Outside spending reports are updated on a daily basis and liberal groups are dumping tons of money into competitive Senate races, especially for use against GOP candidate.

Here's a breakdown of outside spending in some competitive Senate races.


Alaska: Begich (D) vs Sullivan (R)

Supporting Sullivan:     $883,079
Opposing Begich:      $1,215,128
$2.1 million in outside GOP spending

Supporting Begich:    $1,881,951   
Opposing Sullivan:    $4,707,621
$6.6 million in outside Democratic spending


Arkansas: Pryor (D) vs Cotton (R)

Supporting Cotton: $1,352,652
Opposing Pryor:      $2,218,282
$2.6 million in outside GOP spending

Supporting Pryor:     $230,884   
Opposing Cotton: $6,378,628
$6.6 million in outside Democratic spending


Colorado: Udall (D) vs Gardner (R)

Supporting Gardner: $1,293,459
Opposing Udall: $120,165
$1.4 million in outside GOP spending

Supporting Udall: $116,251
Opposing Gardner: $6,393,823
$6.5 million in outside Democratic spending


Iowa: Braley (D) vs Ernst (R)

Supporting Ernst: $1,688,365   
Opposing Braley: $59,328
$1.7 million in outside GOP spending

Supporting Braley: $766,151
Opposing Ernst: $3,262,594
$4.0 million in outside Democratic spending




and the same trends hold up elsewhere, like in Michigan and Louisiana. Hew Hampshire is notable because last week a single group spent a million dollars on Scott Brown attack ads. North Carolina stands out the most because over ten million dollars have already been spent attacking the GOP candidate while only a six figure sum has been spent against Hagan.

The only exception among competitve races appears to be Kentucky, where the pro-Dem Senate Majority PAC is outspending everyone else 2 to 1 at the moment but they have a long way to go before the $4 million anti-McConnell figure approaches the $7 million in anti-Grimes spending.

(Georgia would require some effort to break down the detail because SuperPACs spent millions in the GOP runoff and you'd have to go line-by-line to split that from general election spending)

[Keystone Phil]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

[Bacon King]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

I unironically agree with you, all this money in politics is pretty sickening. There's certainly a lot of hypocrisy from the left regarding campaign finance reform but I guess the go-to argument would be "sticking to principles is electoral suicide" much in the same way that a lot of politicos speak out against gerrymandering except when it's their own party doing it in a state where it's the norm

[Stranger in a strange land]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

I unironically agree with you, all this money in politics is pretty sickening. There's certainly a lot of hypocrisy from the left regarding campaign finance reform but I guess the go-to argument would be "sticking to principles is electoral suicide" much in the same way that a lot of politicos speak out against gerrymandering except when it's their own party doing it in a state where it's the norm

Same here. We need to get money out of politics regardless of which party happens to be benefiting at the moment.

[Franzl]

Seems like the price of a Senate seat rises dramatically every cycle.

[Person Man]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

Yup.

[KCDem]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

I unironically agree with you, all this money in politics is pretty sickening. There's certainly a lot of hypocrisy from the left regarding campaign finance reform but I guess the go-to argument would be "sticking to principles is electoral suicide" much in the same way that a lot of politicos speak out against gerrymandering except when it's their own party doing it in a state where it's the norm

Same here. We need to get money out of politics regardless of which party happens to be benefiting at the moment.

This x 10000000

[IceSpear]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

Yup.

[Badger]

Did anyone else notice the Democratic ration of negative advertising far outstrips the GOP?

[Franzl]

Did anyone else notice the Democratic ration of negative advertising far outstrips the GOP?

Well that is the best argument Democrats have, that they're not the GOP...

[Vega]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

Yup.

[7,052,770]

Did anyone else notice the Democratic ration of negative advertising far outstrips the GOP?

Well that is the best argument Democrats have, that they're not the GOP...

Yeah, especially in a state like Iowa where we're running a very mediocre candidate against Christine O'Donnell redux...

[GaussLaw]

Of course, the 501(c)(4)'s, like Americans for Prosperity, are where the GOP is pumping its money.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Did anyone else notice the Democratic ration of negative advertising far outstrips the GOP?

Well that is the best argument Democrats have, that they're not the GOP...

Yeah, especially in a state like Iowa where we're running a very mediocre candidate against Christine O'Donnell redux...

Ernst seems much more like Sarah Palin redux plus military service. O'Donnell was really in a class by herself.

[Miles]

Of course, the 501(c)(4)'s, like Americans for Prosperity, are where the GOP is pumping its money.

[Bacon King]

I used SuperPAC as a catch-all term, this data includes 501(c)(4) spending too

[Badger]

Did anyone else notice the Democratic ration of negative advertising far outstrips the GOP?

Well that is the best argument Democrats have, that they're not the GOP...

Yeah, but the Republicans' best argument is tying Senate candidate X to Obama, especially where most of the endangered incumbents are Democrats (really all of them are except for McConnell), and anti-incumbent campaigns by their very nature require negative attacks.

It's surprising.

[nolesfan2011]

Better pass that Constitutional amendment ASAP!

I unironically agree with you, all this money in politics is pretty sickening. There's certainly a lot of hypocrisy from the left regarding campaign finance reform but I guess the go-to argument would be "sticking to principles is electoral suicide" much in the same way that a lot of politicos speak out against gerrymandering except when it's their own party doing it in a state where it's the norm

Same here. We need to get money out of politics regardless of which party happens to be benefiting at the moment.

Ralph Nader looks more right every day

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Did anyone else notice the Democratic ration of negative advertising far outstrips the GOP?

Negative advertising wins. I remember in 2004, you went to John Kerry's campaign site, it was all about John Kerry. And if you went to Bush's campaign site, it was all about John Kerry. Bush didn't win by telling people how great his net loss of jobs was and the how awesome the Iraq quagmire was.