Wisconsin is one of the last swing states to be hit with state-specific presidential election ads from President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. According to NBC, the Obama campaign spent $667,954 on TV time for this past week’s political ads in Wisconsin. The Romney campaign spent $369,516 for the same time period.
Despite spending less than the Obama campaign on ads this past week, the GOP has spent twice as much in Wisconsin overall. Romney’s campaign spent $7.9 million, while Obama’s spent $3.9 million. According to NBC, almost $600 million has been spent on national TV ads alone from both candidates collectively.
Thomas Benedict, a Wisconsin resident, College of Arts & Sciences graduate and University of Illinois grad student was less than impressed by the campaign spending.
“It is ridiculous how much they spend on ads,” Benedict said. “There are way too many political ads, and I feel like they are clogging up my TV every time they come on. There are way too many ads in general, but especially attack ads, and I feel like it has come to a point where there are so many ads that they don’t even matter anymore. Nobody is going to pay attention because we write it off as a political ad, so why even bother with it?”
Romney’s new Wisconsin-geared ad is titled “A Better Future: Wisconsin.” In the ad, Romney says he wants to create 240,000 new jobs in Wisconsin as well as get rid of the national budget deficit and cut government spending. He also blames Obama for Americans being worse off than they were before he took office in 2008.
Romney also brings up the $16 trillion national debt, saying Obama is partially to blame and should take responsibility.
Obama unveiled two ads shortly after Romney, with one titled “The Choice” and the other “Stretch”. In the first ad, Obama accuses Romney of promoting a “top down plan” and focuses on the importance of the middle class. He also says he would ask the wealthy to pay slightly more in order to pay down debt in a balanced way and strengthen the middle class.
In his second ad, Obama accuses Romney of planning to increase taxes on the middle class. He also tries to appeal to the audience by saying that “Mitt Romney made $20 million dollars in 2010, but paid only 14 percent in taxes – probably less than you.”
Nicole Leonard, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, is skeptical of how effective the three ads would be.
“I just don’t know how I feel about politicians attacking one another in the name of the election, even if it isn’t personal and is more policy based,” Leonard said. “I want to choose a president who is extraordinary, not the lesser of two evils.”