Money spent on campaign ads expected to be record breaking

 Televisions all over the country have been taken over by campaign ads recently, and each one makes a dent in a candidate's wallet.  According to the New York Times, political candidates are on track to set a record for the most money spent on TV campaign ads ever.  By Election Day, totals are expected to reach $3 billion, eclipsing the previous record of about $2.7 billion set during the 2008 elections.

Federal candidates are $90 million ahead of their 2006 totals at this point, while state candidates are almost $70 million ahead of their '06 totals.  These totals are strictly from individual candidate's campaigns. Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which monitors political advertising, says, "roughly 75 percent of all advertising spending comes in the last 60 days, and of that, roughly 60 percent comes in the last 30 days, a period that just began."

 According to the New York Times, political competitiveness could be to blame for the advertising spending.  Incumbents are realizing that they must pour more money into their campaign to "out-do" their opponents.