Campaign 2012

Impact of Super PACs Unclear

Despite months of spending.

After months of super-PAC spending and pundits hyperventilating about conservative groups like Crossroads GPS outraising liberal ones, the presidential race remains close with President Obama ahead by a slight lead. One Democratic strategist said, “Given the volume of money they’ve spent, they don’t seem to have a whole lot to show for it.” But Republicans think such talk is premature. A spokesman for Crossroads said, “This assumes advertising takes place in a vacuum, without any pushback from the other team—and one could just as easily make the case that Obama’s $173 million of ads over the summer to define Romney failed because the race remained tied.”