AC

The Washington Post examined campaign ad spending on the general election and found that for Republicans, outside groups are doing most of the heavy lifting. From Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake: Roughly 80 percent of all ad spending by Republicans on the general election has come from these super PACs, as Romney has expended a relatively meager $35 million to date on ads in swing states, according to ad buy figures provided to the Fix by a GOP media buyer. By contrast, the $20 million that Democratic super PACs have spent on ads so far in the general election accounts for just 19 percent of total ad spending on the Democratic side. Of the 10 biggest spenders on TV ads among outside groups, eight of them are Republican affiliated. As this graph shows, the Obama campaign still remains the largest individual spender on campaign ads, but  it is no match to the combined spending of Republican-friendly groups and the Romney campaign.