Obama outspends Clinton, GOP on ads

by Katie Fretland

Sen. Barack Obama outspent Hillary Clinton in television campaign advertisements this year, TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG and the Wisconsin Advertising Project reported today.

In total, Obama spent $75 million on advertising, eclipsing Clinton's $46 million and the amount spent by all Republican candidates combined.

Nearly 30 percent of Obama's ads include the American flag, while he does not wear the flag pin on his lapel. John McCain's ads show the flag more than 60 percent of the time.

Candidates have spent nearly $200 million in campaign advertising so far, and Democrats spent $135 million of that total. Republicans spent $57 million, according to the study.

Clinton and Obama spent about the same amount through Super Tuesday, but Obama outspent Clinton by a ratio of more than 3 to 1 in states with primaries from Feb. 9 to 19. Following those primaries, Clinton spent half as much as the Obama campaign on advertising.

Obama won nine states and 118 delegates from Feb. 5 to 19, a time in which he out-advertised the Clinton campaign. But, according to the study, Obama's spending on advertising was not the singular factor in his victory in those states. State demographics and other factors must be considered. He lost in other states - Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania -- where he spent more than Clinton on advertising.

In the advertisements, Obama's top three issues were health care, taxes and jobs. Clinton's were health care, jobs and housing. McCain's were defense, Iraq and government ethics.

For a state-by-state look at spending and delegate counts, see this file : ads and delegates by state

For data on total spending by candidate :

Total Spending by Party and Candidate for 2008 Presidential Primaries

Candidate Airings Est. Spending
Biden 3,165 $1,799,000
Clinton 80,505 $46,027,000
Dodd 4,028 $1,777,000
Edwards 14,732 $8,283,000
Kucinich 27 $6,000
Lamagna 4 $5,000
Obama 139,006 $74,823,000
Richardson 5,936 $4,234,000
Total Democrats 247,403 $136,954,000

Cort 15 $6,000
Giuliani 7,127 $5,777,000
Huckabee 8,400 $3,569,000
Hunter 114 $68,000
McCain 16,413 $11,084,000
Paul 7,220 $3,161,000
Romney 36,841 $31,658,000
Tancredo 99 $158,000
Thompson 4,032 $2,224,000
Total Republicans 80,261 $57,705,000
Total for All Candidates 327,664 $194,659,000

The study also found : (from the press release)

 Since securing the Republican Party's nomination, Senator McCain has concentrated his advertising in states that will likely be competitive in the general election. His top targets include Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, and New Mexico.

 Throughout the campaign, Barack Obama has narrated a greater percentage of his campaign ads than Senator Clinton. Obama appears narrating more than 70 percent of his ads, while Clinton narrates only 35 percent of her ads.

 The top issue for Democratic presidential candidates has been health care. For both the Clinton and Obama campaigns, the most talked about issue in their campaign advertising has been health care.