Clinton Has Major Advantage In TV Ad War

Rick Klein: “Much has already been made of the advertising jump enjoyed by Hillary Clinton, whose 12-1 ad spending edge this month means she and her allies have spent $20 million more getting their message out than has Donald Trump and his backers. But is that head start about to get even longer? Speaking Tuesday night in Ohio, Donald Trump suggested that he won’t start spending in battleground states until after the Republican National Convention.”

Said Trump: “She is spending money like – like I’ve never seen before. I figure we start spending it after the convention, which is going to be a tremendous success.”

“Tremendous success or not, this leaves Trump spotting two whole months to Clinton at the start of the general election – critical time Democrats are using to define the opposition. Even if this is being driven by strategy, as opposed to necessity, it’s possible we’ll look back at this period and talk about avoidable campaign miscalculations. Trump has seen his standing erode since he locked down the nomination – six weeks before Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Clinton and her forces have been freed up to make their case without meaningful pushback on the airwaves.”