Clinton Air War Fails To Sink TrumpThe Hill, 09/21/16
Hillary Clinton ’s campaign and its allies are outspending their Republican counterparts by a factor of about five to one, according to a new analysis released Tuesday.
But the former secretary of State has failed to put away Donald Trump, and many anxious Democrats are baffled as to why the race remains so close.
Part of the reason may be that TV advertising — often the single biggest budget item within a campaign — is losing its effectiveness.
“It’s becoming more difficult to target voters,” said one Democratic strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “Voters are more cynical about ads because they have seen them for decades. Nothing is as effective as it used to be.”
The analysis published by NBC News on Tuesday, drawing on data from tracking firm Advertising Analytics, found that the Clinton campaign had spent $96.4 million on the airwaves against just $17.3 million from the Trump campaign.
When outside groups supporting Clinton’s candidacy were included, the total spend on her side reached $156.6 million. The comparable figure for all pro-Trump advertising was $33.6 million.
Clinton is a slight favorite in the race, but the huge disparity in spending has failed to break the contest open. Data website FiveThirtyEight gave Clinton a 56 percent chance of winning as of Tuesday afternoon, while the RealClearPolitics average of national polls showed her with an edge of about 1 percentage point.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/296932-clinton-air-war-fails-to-sink-trump
