2012 Election Ads Could Top $3 Billion

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October 07, 2011

2012 Election Ads Could Top $3 Billion

The Los Angeles Times reports that Ken Goldstein, who heads a firm that tracks and analyzes political advertising, is predicting that candidates, political parties and outside groups like "super PACs" could spend between $2.5 and $3.2 billion in the 2012 election cycle.

"To put those numbers in perspective, about $2.1 billion was spent on television advertising in 2008, up 30% from the previous presidential cycle in 2004. The 2010 midterm saw $2.4 billion in TV ad spending, up 30% from 2006... If it seems strange that a presidential election year could cost about the same, in advertising terms, as a midterm cycle without a major national campaign, it's important to note the role that geography played in 2010. That year, there were a number of gubernatorial and Senate races in states with high-priced media markets, which forced campaigns to make expensive buys to get their message out to voters in key statewide elections. In 2012, the competitive statewide races are in places like Montana and Missouri, where airtime is much less expensive."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

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Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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October 07, 2011