A report from ABC News shows that negative advertising whether we like it or not, works.
Romney ads and pro-Romney SuperPAC ads are outspending Gingrich and pro-Gingrich SuperPAC ads by quadruple the dollar amount.
So far, Romney has bought $5.6 million worth of airtime and the pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, has shelled out a whopping $8.2 million, according to a Republican media buyer who is tracking ad spending in the state.
Compare that to $837,000 spent by the Gingrich campaign and the nearly $3 million of airtime bought by Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting the former House speaker, and it’s easy to understand one reason why Gingrich has slipped in the most recent polls in the Sunshine State.
Pro-Romney forces are using the vast majority of the $13.9 million they’ve spent to buy up television airtime on broadcast stations in the Miami, Tampa and Orlando areas – population centers that will be critical to the former Massachusetts governor’s hopes of winning the state.
Gingrich is following a similar pattern, and Winning Our Future is also spending more than $1 million on radio ads. Cumulatively his campaign and the super PAC supporting him has purchased roughly $3.8 million of television and radio time.
Florida polling has shown, in the last week alone, Romney ahead of Gingrich, then Gingrich ahead of Romney and now back to Romney ahead.
According to the ABC News report, the pro-Gingrich SuperPAC Winning Our Future is pledging to buy up $6 million in airtime before next Tuesday's primaries. With seesawing of polls within the last week, it is possible that the Winning Our Future SuperPAC is waiting for weekend to have the biggest impact closer to Florida primary day.
Today the Gingrich campaign has released a new ad, called "What Kind of Man?, video shown and discussed HERE. While ABC News did reference this new ad, it is unclear if the ad is included in the totals they quoted.