Priorities USA Action, the super PAC backing President Obama, has reserved $30 million in airtime for the fall, reports the Washington Post. Earlier this year, the super PAC struggled to raise money, particularly compared to the enormous sums brought in by Republican outside groups. But the latest ad buy is significant of a substantial uptick in fundraising for the group. Still, $30 million is a far cry from the $300 million Karl Rove’s Crossroads groups have pledged to spend this cycle.
The reservations cover six states: Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. According to Politico, the Pennsylvania buy is for October only since that state leans more blue than the other five.
From the Post:
Priorities USA Action, which is run by former White House aides Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney, has raised $16 million this year — as of the end of June — and $21 million since the start of 2011. It recently received a $1 million donation from actor Morgan Freeman. The group says it has another $20 million in commitments.
…
As of the third week in July, Republican outside groups had spent $144 million on swing state television advertising while Democratic groups — led by Priorities USA Action — had spent just over $20 million.
The dual-headed Crossroads group — one arm is a super PAC, the other a not-for-profit — had spent upward of $90 million on ads by itself by that time.
