Obama Spent More on Ads Than McCain Spent on Election (Update1)

By Jonathan D. Salant

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama spent more on advertising last month than Republican rival John McCain spent on his campaign, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

Obama spent $57.2 million in July, including $33 million on advertising. McCain spent $32.4 million, with $18.7 million for ads.

McCain entered August with slightly more money than Obama when funds in the bank accounts of the Republican and Democratic party committees are included.

McCain, 71, is taking federal funds for the general election and therefore must drain his campaign bank account by the end of August. He boosted his spending by more than $5 million over the previous month. In addition to his ad spending, he spent $5.2 million on printing and postage. He has now spent $150 million on his presidential campaign.

Obama's spending also included $3 million on print and online advertisements. He has now spent $335.5 million.

The Democratic candidate ran far more TV, cable and radio commercials than McCain between June 4 and Aug. 1, the Nielsen Co. reported today. Obama aired 70,707 ads compared with 57,914 for McCain. Obama ran 7,387 ads in Florida, while McCain bypassed the Sunshine State.

In other battleground states, McCain was a more frequent commercial presence than Obama, running 10,136 ads in Ohio to 7,154 for Obama, 7,988 spots in Michigan to Obama's 6,597, and 7,426 commercials in Pennsylvania while Obama ran 6,130, said Nielsen, which is based in New York.

Bank Balances

McCain, an Arizona senator, reported a bank account balance of $21.4 million entering August in his FEC report. The Republican National Committee had $75.1 million in the bank, meaning that the party and the candidate had $96.5 million to spend. The RNC reported its first independent expenditures last month, spending $3.4 million against Obama.

Obama, 47, had $65.8 million in the bank, and the Democratic National Committee said it had $28.5 million, giving the candidate and his party more than $94 million.

Since sewing up the nomination, McCain has steadily increased his monthly fundraising haul. He brought in $26.2 million in July, including $5.5 million from a joint committee with the RNC, after raising $21.5 million in June. To date, he has raised more than $152 million, more than any other Republican candidate except for President George W. Bush in 2004.

He received $2,300 apiece from vanquished Republican rival Mitt Romney and his wife Ann. Mitt Romney has been mentioned as a potential vice-presidential pick.

Fundraising Trails

Even so, McCain's fundraising continued to trail Obama, who broke through the $50 million barrier for the second straight month and now has raised a record $390 million. Obama raised $50.3 million in July, including $12.6 million from a joint fundraising effort with the Democratic National Committee.

Obama, an Illinois senator, is not taking federal funds for the general election, the first major party nominee to shun the public money since the campaign finance system was overhauled for the 1976 elections as a result of the Watergate scandal.

McCain also raised $2.7 million to pay for legal and accounting costs incurred in the general election, bringing that fund's balance to $11.4 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: August 21, 2008 12:07 EDT

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