Money Could Be Deciding Factor Near Election's End
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney made his way out of South Florida Thursday into what could best be described as an uncertain future of his campaign.
It's long been believed the Romney campaign would far outspend the Obama campaign in this election. This was reinforced by several months of the Romney campaign outraising the Obama camp during the summer and early summer.
But, according to the New York Times, those numbers may not reflect a spending advantage over Obama. The Times reported that much of the more than $300 million the campaign reported raising this summer is "earmarked for the Republican National Committee, state Republican organizations, and Congressional races."
That is true for some of Obama's fundraising as well, with some of his money also being earmarked typically for the Democratic National Committee. For both candidates, this limits the amount of money the campaigns can spend on their own ads.
Currently, according to the Times, Obama and his allies are blanketing the airwaves in swing states like Colorado, Ohio, and New Hampshire. In states like Florida, Iowa, Nevada, and Virginia, the Times reports Obama is fighting Romney dollar-for-dollar and that Super PACs are sponsoring nearly half the advertising benefitting Romney.
Additionally, as Romney seeks to try to reset his campaign after a damaging Politico article last Sunday exposed divisions in the campaign and a video released Tuesday saw the candidate say his job as president wasn't to care about roughly 47 percent of the electorate, each advertising day that is lost trying to take on damage control is lost for the campaign.
Still, with the unlimited funding Super PACS can have heading into the final six weeks of the campaign, plus three presidential debates, Romney's campaign is far from over. The Romney camp could be waiting until the final two weeks of the campaign to unleash a complete advertising fury across the country.
In 2000, George W. Bush took a similar tactic and according to pollsters who researched the race, cost Al Gore as much as four points in several key swing states.
