Independent groups
NY Times: Karl Rove’s Mission Accomplished
By Paul KrugmanRemember how Rove and others were supposed to raise vast sums from billionaires and corporations, then totally saturate the country with GOP messaging, drowning out Obama’s message? Well, they certainly raised a lot of money, and ran a lot of ads. But in terms of actual number of ads the battle has been, if anything, an Obama advantage. And while we don’t know what will happen on Tuesday, state-level polls suggest both that Obama is a strong favorite and, much more surprising, that Democrats are overwhelmingly favored to hold the Senate in a year when the number of seats at risk was supposed to spell doom.
WSJ: Union Is Top Spender for Democrats
By MELANIE TROTTMAN and BRODY MULLINSThe Service Employees International Union has emerged as the top outside spender on Democratic campaigns this year, surpassing even President Barack Obama’s main super PAC.
NY Times: Super PACs Provide Last-Minute Rush of Campaign Spending
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and DEREK WILLISIn mid-October, a Republican lawyer in Washington sent paperwork overnight to the Federal Election Commission forming a new “super PAC” called Freedom Fund North America. The group did nothing for more than a week, until the last deadline passed for publicly disclosing donors before Election Day.
NY Times: Unions Recruit New Allies for Obama in Battleground States
By Steven GreenhouseTheirs were among the 69,176 doors that union leaders said were part of a statewide labor canvass in Wisconsin on Saturday. In labor’s last-minute campaign efforts, canvassers in Eau Claire, Kenosha, La Crosse, Racine, Green Bay and other communities carried the same message: Do not forget to vote, and when you do, cast ballots for President Obama and Tammy Baldwin, the Democratic candidate for Senate.
Columbus Dispatch: If Romney loses Ohio, he will certainly know why
By Senior Editor Joe HallettIn all, there have been 64,000 TV ads run in the Senate campaign by “super-PACs” and other outside groups, almost all of them negative, and four times more favoring Mandel than Brown. According to a Dispatch analysis, more than 90 percent of those ads were financed by so-called “social welfare” organizations, including Rove’s and the Chamber, that legally don’t have to disclose their donors.
The new normal: $9 million for a rural House seat
By Kenneth VogelJust two years later, nearly $9 million has been spent on the race for the conservative 7th District and the 733,500 residents represented by McIntyre in the southeastern corner of North Carolina.
Candidates and parties
Associated Press: Big money, smaller audience: The 2012 presidential ad blitz is a study in contrasts
WASHINGTON — One million ads. More than $1 billion. Ten battleground states.
Politico: A no-win election for independents
By Linda KillianInstead, the campaigns and their supporters have tried to carpet bomb the electorate into submission with billions of dollars in television advertising which has left most of the voters feeling as if they need to take a shower.
Roll Call: At The Races: Nancy Pelosi Raised $12.9 Million in October
By Jonathan StrongThe California Democrat held 65 fundraising and campaign events in eight states and Washington, D.C. Over the current election cycle, Pelosi has raised $85.1 million.
