Outside groups backing President Obama or Mitt Romney account for
nearly half of the whopping sums that have been spent this year on
campaign ads.
NBC News reports
super PACs and organizations such as those backed by billionaires
Charles and David Koch have spent $267 million to date on TV and radio
commercials aimed at influencing voters.
The total spent on ads,
including money shelled out by the Obama and Romney campaigns, is more
than $605 million. That's up from the $575 million that was the basis of
the network's campaign ad analysis of last week.
Put
another way: 44 cents out of every dollar spent on presidential ads has
come from an organization that acts independently from Obama or Romney,
NBC News says.
The election rests on votes
in 12 battleground states, so it's no surprise that outside groups have
been spending generously in those states. The NBC News analysis shows
Florida has received nearly $59 million by these independent groups,
followed by Ohio and Virginia.
Crossroads GPS and its sister
organization, American Crossroads -- both affiliated with GOP strategist
Karl Rove -- are among the top outside groups paying for presidential
ads. Americans for Prosperity, founded by the Koch brothers, and
Priorities USA Action, the main pro-Obama super PAC, are also big
spenders, according to NBC's review of data from SMG Delta, an ad-buying
firm.
USA Today