[h=3]By LAURA MECKLER And DANNY YADRON[/h]
ReutersMitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop in Deleware, Ohio.
WASHINGTON—For the first time this election season, Mitt Romney is outspending President Barack Obama on television ads, as the Republican challenger unleashes the fruits of a summer of aggressive fundraising.
Mr. Romney will spend about $16.8 million on television ads this week, according to ad-tracking data provided by media buyers, while Mr. Obama will spend about $15.5 million, down 30% from the week before when the campaign spent heavily to air a two-minute spot.
The GOP nominee is spending heavily even in battleground states where Mr. Obama has led by notable margins in polls. That includes about $1 million in ad buys this week in Wisconsin by the Romney campaign.
[h=3]Poll: Campaign Ads 2012[/h]Watch campaign ads from the 2012 election season, rate the meanest and most effective ones, sort by party and search by keywords.
At the same time, Mr. Obama and the super PAC supporting him have decreased their ad buys in Wisconsin, a bet that the president's lead in the state is safe after a blitz of TV ads and two visits to the state by the president, including his largest rally of the year last week in Madison.
Mr. Romney can't easily drop his efforts in the Badger State. If he were to lose Ohio, where Mr. Obama is leading in most polls, Wisconsin would become critical to any chance of his winning an Electoral College majority.
Meantime, Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama super PAC, is moving some of its Wisconsin money to Nevada after reviewing internal polling, aides said. Ad rates are much lower in Nevada, and Priorities USA officials believe it's a place where its ad buy could make a difference in winning the state, as the president did in 2008.
Obama campaign officials have long said they expect to be outspent overall, and over the summer, that was true thanks to spending from independent pro-Romney groups. But until now the Obama campaign itself had outspent the Romney campaign. Ad dollars spent by a presidential campaign are seen as more effective because candidates sometimes pay local TV stations less than half of what super PACs are charged, and they can control the message.
Both campaigns have been spending heavily in the swing states of Ohio, Iowa, Florida and Virginia that will play key roles in which candidate captures the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Messrs. Obama and Romney each are spending more than $4 million this week in Florida and about $3.7 million in Ohio.
The spending blitz comes as Mr. Obama told radio host Tom Joyner Wednesday that he expects the "hand-wringing" among Democrats in the wake of his poor debate performance to subside next week. He also indicated that he is putting significant stock in his performance in the second debate next week and in Thursday night's face-off between Vice President Joe Biden and his GOP challenger Paul Ryan.
"By next week I think a lot of the hand-wringing will be complete because we're gonna go ahead and win this thing," he said in the interview broadcast Wednesday. Mr. Obama said in the first debate, "I was just too polite," but "I think it's fair to say we will see a little more activity at the next one."
After the president compared the presidential contest to a basketball game, Mr. Joyner joined in the chorus of criticism of his debate performance. "Yeah, but you had an open shot and you didn't take it."
"I understand," Mr. Obama replied. "What happens though is people lose one game. This is a long haul…We will win this thing as long as folks stay focused."
Also Wednesday, the Obama campaign contested Mr. Romney's assertion in a Des Moines Register interview that he wouldn't pursue antiabortion legislation as president. Obama officials said his statement contradicts his long-standing positions and noted that it was reversed almost immediately by a spokeswoman who said Mr. Romney would "of course" support legislation aimed at preventing abortion.
"We know that the real Mitt Romney will say anything to win," Stephanie Cutter, deputy Obama campaign manager told reporters on a conference call. She added that Mr. Romney was later "fact checked by his own campaign."
On Thursday, Mr. Romney told reporters, "I think I've said time and again that I'm a pro-life candidate and I'll be a pro-life president."
The controversy fit into the larger argument the Obama campaign has been making since last week's presidential debate—that Mr. Romney is masking his real positions in order to appear more moderate to voters. The Obama campaign has tried to make a similar case on taxes, education and other issues.
On the stump Wednesday in Ohio, Mr. Romney focused on rallying his core supporters, visiting three counties that Sen. John McCain won handily in 2008.
At a town hall in Mount Vernon, most voters prefaced their questions by telling Mr. Romney they were confident he would win. Mr. Romney complained about pro-Obama TV ads that he happened to see while watching his wife's appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"It is a good thing I don't do that very often because my blood pressure would be very high," he said. "I saw these things and I said 'I don't believe that. That's not me.'"
—Sara Murray and Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.Write to Laura Meckler at [email protected] and Danny Yadron at [email protected]
WASHINGTON—For the first time this election season, Mitt Romney is outspending President Barack Obama on television ads, as the Republican challenger unleashes the fruits of a summer of aggressive fundraising.
Mr. Romney will spend about $16.8 million on television ads this week, according to ad-tracking data provided by media buyers, while Mr. Obama will spend about $15.5 million, down 30% from the week before when the campaign spent heavily to air a two-minute spot.
The GOP nominee is spending heavily even in battleground states where Mr. Obama has led by notable margins in polls. That includes about $1 million in ad buys this week in Wisconsin by the Romney campaign.
[h=3]Poll: Campaign Ads 2012[/h]Watch campaign ads from the 2012 election season, rate the meanest and most effective ones, sort by party and search by keywords.
At the same time, Mr. Obama and the super PAC supporting him have decreased their ad buys in Wisconsin, a bet that the president's lead in the state is safe after a blitz of TV ads and two visits to the state by the president, including his largest rally of the year last week in Madison.
Mr. Romney can't easily drop his efforts in the Badger State. If he were to lose Ohio, where Mr. Obama is leading in most polls, Wisconsin would become critical to any chance of his winning an Electoral College majority.
Meantime, Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama super PAC, is moving some of its Wisconsin money to Nevada after reviewing internal polling, aides said. Ad rates are much lower in Nevada, and Priorities USA officials believe it's a place where its ad buy could make a difference in winning the state, as the president did in 2008.
Obama campaign officials have long said they expect to be outspent overall, and over the summer, that was true thanks to spending from independent pro-Romney groups. But until now the Obama campaign itself had outspent the Romney campaign. Ad dollars spent by a presidential campaign are seen as more effective because candidates sometimes pay local TV stations less than half of what super PACs are charged, and they can control the message.
Both campaigns have been spending heavily in the swing states of Ohio, Iowa, Florida and Virginia that will play key roles in which candidate captures the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Messrs. Obama and Romney each are spending more than $4 million this week in Florida and about $3.7 million in Ohio.
The spending blitz comes as Mr. Obama told radio host Tom Joyner Wednesday that he expects the "hand-wringing" among Democrats in the wake of his poor debate performance to subside next week. He also indicated that he is putting significant stock in his performance in the second debate next week and in Thursday night's face-off between Vice President Joe Biden and his GOP challenger Paul Ryan.
"By next week I think a lot of the hand-wringing will be complete because we're gonna go ahead and win this thing," he said in the interview broadcast Wednesday. Mr. Obama said in the first debate, "I was just too polite," but "I think it's fair to say we will see a little more activity at the next one."
After the president compared the presidential contest to a basketball game, Mr. Joyner joined in the chorus of criticism of his debate performance. "Yeah, but you had an open shot and you didn't take it."
"I understand," Mr. Obama replied. "What happens though is people lose one game. This is a long haul…We will win this thing as long as folks stay focused."
Also Wednesday, the Obama campaign contested Mr. Romney's assertion in a Des Moines Register interview that he wouldn't pursue antiabortion legislation as president. Obama officials said his statement contradicts his long-standing positions and noted that it was reversed almost immediately by a spokeswoman who said Mr. Romney would "of course" support legislation aimed at preventing abortion.
"We know that the real Mitt Romney will say anything to win," Stephanie Cutter, deputy Obama campaign manager told reporters on a conference call. She added that Mr. Romney was later "fact checked by his own campaign."
On Thursday, Mr. Romney told reporters, "I think I've said time and again that I'm a pro-life candidate and I'll be a pro-life president."
The controversy fit into the larger argument the Obama campaign has been making since last week's presidential debate—that Mr. Romney is masking his real positions in order to appear more moderate to voters. The Obama campaign has tried to make a similar case on taxes, education and other issues.
On the stump Wednesday in Ohio, Mr. Romney focused on rallying his core supporters, visiting three counties that Sen. John McCain won handily in 2008.
At a town hall in Mount Vernon, most voters prefaced their questions by telling Mr. Romney they were confident he would win. Mr. Romney complained about pro-Obama TV ads that he happened to see while watching his wife's appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"It is a good thing I don't do that very often because my blood pressure would be very high," he said. "I saw these things and I said 'I don't believe that. That's not me.'"
—Sara Murray and Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.Write to Laura Meckler at [email protected] and Danny Yadron at [email protected]