Time to take a gander at presidential campaign ad spending this last week, in millions:

Add it all up, Republicans spent $ 22.93 million last week attacking Pres. Barack Obama, while Democrats, pretty much just the Obama campaign, spent $ 7.69 million. Not sure what Republicans are getting for all that cash spent. It’s not as if that massive spending advantage is buying them big gains in the polling.

Every week I get more convinced that Republican billionaires are pissing away their money on this race.

Additional thoughts:

• The DNC sat out last week, while Karl Rove’s Crossroads has pretty much sat out the presidential all of August. Rove is more focused these days on Senate races.
• New Mexico is still off the map.
• After weeks of quiet, Pennsylvania got hit with $ 1.74 million from Restore our Future (Romney Super PAC) and Americans for Prosperity (Koch Brothers). No one else is bothering with it, not even the RNC, which has dropped a dime here and there.
• Not sure what Restore is doing in Michigan, but whatever they’re seeing, no one else is.
• Speaking of Restore, they spent about $ 9.5 million this past week.
• Priorities USA spent less than a million this past week, yet their web ad with the laid off worker talking about his wife dying of cancer has driven the news now for what, two weeks? They may not have the kind of money that Romney’s Super PAC or the Koch brothers have, but they appear to be having the biggest bang for the buck.
• I feel bad for anyone in Florida who doesn’t own a DVR. Ditto Ohio.
• North Carolina is a curious state. Obama doesn’t need it, not by a long shot. But it’s hard to see a Romney path to victory without it. So Obama spent just over $ 1 million there over the last week. Republicans spent over $ 2 million to counter.

  If Republicans have to double up Obama spending in order to keep a state competitive that Obama doesn’t even need, that’s not good for Team Red.

• While the campaigns are still ignoring Wisconsin, both Restore and Prosperity seem to be doing a little probing, seeing whether Ryan’s selection puts the state back in play.

Still shaking my head at both the 3-1 spending advantage Republicans enjoy, and how little that spending has bought them. Conservative billionaires didn’t get that way by throwing money away. They may be fully committed this cycle, but I wonder if Citizens United isn’t done in by the courts or Congress, but by rich people spending their cash on more fruitful endeavors (like lobbyists).

It’s seeming far easier and more effective to buy a lawmaker, than it is to buy an election.

Daily Kos