Campaign Ad Spending: Fun With Numbers

A report today by a study group at the University of Wisconsin estimates that the presidential candidates have spent nearly $200 million on television advertising this election cycle. Which makes it time for some fun with numbers.

The Wisconsin Advertising Project, using ad tracking data from an outfit called TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, figures that Barack Obama’s spent nearly $75 million on TV ads, Hillary Clinton $46 million and John McCain $11 million. So what did they – and others – get for their money?

Most cost-effective, if losing ever is cost-effective, was Mike Huckabee, who spent an estimated $3.6 million on ads and pulled down 4.2 million votes – the only one of the lot to come in at under a buck a vote. (We’re limiting this analysis to million-dollar-plus spenders, and we’re also using the “official” AP vote count, which as noted elsewhere has some serious quirks.)

John McCain comes next, at $1.17 per vote. Next are Ron Paul and Clinton, neck and neck at about $2.75. Then we jump to Obama, who at $4.46 has outspent Clinton on television ads, per this estimate, by an impressive $1.67 per vote.

The high rollers are Bill Richardson, $289, Joe Biden, $508, and Chris Dodd, $8,626. But to be fair to them, here’s where the vote-counting foibles come in. Biden and Dodd bailed after Iowa, Richardson after New Hampshire. As we’ve covered before, the AP count in Iowa (as well as in a few other caucus states) is based on initial delegates awarded, not on actual voters, which makes the early-out candidates look especially bad. Nonetheless, at $1.8, $1.8 and $4.2 million, respectively, it’s hard to argue these three candidates got much bang for their bucks.

               Total         Est. TV        Dollars   


                 vote         spending      per vote

Huckabee     4,206,436     $3,569,000        $0.85    McCain       9,489,009    $11,084,000        $1.17    Paul         1,140,968     $3,161,000        $2.77    Clinton     16,474,034    $46,027,000        $2.79    Obama       16,779,438    $74,823,000        $4.46    Romney       4,494,892    $31,658,000        $7.04    F. Thompson    290,272     $2,224,000        $7.66    Giuliani       578,415     $5,777,000        $9.99    Edwards        615,969     $8,283,000       $13.45    Richardson      14,647     $4,234,000      $289.07    Biden            3,539     $1,799,000      $508.34    Dodd               206     $1,777,000    $8,626.21  

Source: TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG
and Wisconsin Advertising Project