Ad industry tracker AdImpact predicts $11.6bn in ad spending this cycle, surpassing the $11.2bn spent in the 2024 presidential election. OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group tracking money in politics, pegs total spending in the midterms as on track to reach $11.9bn.
The top 40 donors are giving more than ever before: $2.4bn by mid-October, seven times the amount the top 40 in 2014 gave, adjusted for inflation, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan, pro-campaign finance reform institute the Brennan Center for Justice.
But the significant difference since then is that those top donors now give more to Republicans, and by a larger differential. In 2014, the top 40 gave to Democrats two to one, but this year the top 40 gave to Republicans three to one over Democrats.
I mean, yeah…
People always want to interpret what the DNC says in the worst way possible. But when the chair said that shit about how they’d still take money from “good billionaires” and everyone replied “there are no good billionaires” like it was some kind of brand new insight, this is what was always gonna happen.
They stopped courting oligarchs and only spending donations to get more donations.
So naturally the big money donations swung to Republicans.
But it doesn’t matter, the DNC emptied their coffers to state parties long ago. State Dem parties have been operating at campaign levels for almost two years, that money was put to work a long time ago.
Votes matter more than dollars, so that’s what the party started prioritizing again.
Big money donors did not swing from Democrats to Republicans, this is a flawed analysis. The uptick in republican top 40 funding came from existing republican funders greatly increasing their funding levels and a large part elon musk dumping half a billion into Republican hands.
None of that is Democrat funders switching sides as you are suggesting. And it is not even clear to me if democrat funders gave less this go around adjusting for inflation. It seems Soros didn’t give money to the DNC but he instead funded democratic organizations in different ways.
Votes being prioritized more than dollars makes no sense whatsoever considering dollars are a major way to secure votes.
Such a waste. What ads are changing anyone’s mind?
Some Democrats have changed minds with their anti-trans ads. Not republican minds though, more like anti-ads for Democrats.
The goal isn’t always to change minds – it’s similar in my opinion to asking why Coca-Cola advertises anymore. Propaganda doesn’t need to change your mind to have the desired effect.
