by Mark Silva
Democrat Barack Obama purchased $65 million of TV ad-time last month, almost three times what Republican John McCain bought.
Obama, who set a runaway fundraising record of $151 million, had much more to work with than McCain, who accepted $84 million in public campaign financing for his general election contest and the spending limits that come with it. He has counted on supplemental fundraising by the Republican National Committee to air ads for him.
At Top of the Ticket, the L.A. Times' Dan Morain has counted not only the ad-buys, but also the money that the campaigns are doling out to state parties - a measure of where they hope to score some electoral votes.
Obama's $65.5 million for airtime dwarfed the $22.5 million that McCain spent, the Ticket reports on disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Obama raised a record $150.7 million in September, spent $87.5 million, and entered October with $133 million in the bank -- compared to McCain's $47 million in the bank at the start of the month.
Morain reports that Obama's receipts included $118 million contributed directly to his campaign account, and $32.5 million from a joint fundraising committee he established with the Democratic National Committee that draw tens of millions in five-figure donations.
"Obama's spending on state parties shows the breadth of his campaign,'' he adds. "The Democrat gave $1.7 million to the Florida Democratic Party, and $1.01 million to the party in Ohio. George W. Bush carried both states twice, capturing their combined 47 electoral votes. Obama gave $821,000 to Michigan where McCain hoped to compete but abandoned earlier this month, and $601,000 in Wisconsin, where Republicans are on the retreat.
"The spending also is underscoring Obama's effort to capture states that virtually no expert predicted would be in play: $253,000 to Montana, with a mere three electoral votes, $257,000 in Indiana, with 11 electoral votes, $391,000 in Virginia. More of the same is going on this month. After giving $10,000 to the West Virginia Democratic Party last month, Obama started airing television ads in the state that long has voted Republican.''
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