How did Newt Gingrich fall so far so fast in Iowa polling? A big reason is the massive ad campaign that are blanketing the state partially in an attempt to take him down.
And when we say blanketing, we mean it. A pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC has already spent $3.1 million on ads building up their guy in Iowa. That’s double what the entire GOP primary field spent on Iowa advertising in 2008.
Now the same group, Restore Our Future, is spending the same amount on ads attacking Gingrich. The AP reports the Super PAC will buy $1.4 million in ads attacking Gingrich this week, bringing their total spending to $3 million.
That’s in addition to anti-Gingrich ads coming from Ron Paul, Rick Perry and others.
But it’s Romney doing the bulk of the work on Gingrich’s once-high Iowa poll numbers. On Monday, NBC news reported Restore Our Future is outspending Gingrich 34-1.
As he starts to abandon his all-positive campaign, Gingrich’s campaign is buying up around $222,000 in air time over the next week in Iowa, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Perry is no slouch, however: his ad spending plus that of groups allied with him will total around $800,000, the Journal reported.)
But clearly that’s barely a dent in the volume of spending coming at Gingrich. Polls show the spending has worked. As Politico noted Monday, respondents to the latest ABC/Washington Post poll shows Republicans don’t like the political life Gingrich has led since leaving office, the main focus of the campaign aimed at him.
It’s worth noting that this unprecedented GOP ad campaign Romney is waging may have taken Gingrich out of contention for the top spot in the state, but it hasn’t done much for Romney’s numbers. He’s still running second despite dumping millions on Iowa through his own ads and those from his supporters.
