Today, The Hotline reported that the NRCC will buy ads in 10 districts:
Good news for Republicans, right? Not entirely. A GOP source tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that independent expenditure groups have already made ad buys during the same time period as the NRCC in eight of these ten districts. “So rather than saving money, [the NRCC is] spending money where other groups already are spending dough!” emails the source. “Outside groups and the NRCC will both be running ads for two weeks on top of each other. On the other hand, the NRCC has yet to lay down the rest of the $22 million (or $24 million in some reports) they said several weeks ago they were buying.”
The issue boils down to this: independent expenditure groups are barred by law from coordinating with candidates or candidate committees, so, typically, IE groups wait until the committees announce their plans (including their schedules) for running ads in key House races. Then, the groups will know when to run ads in those races that don’t overlap with the committee-funded ads. But according to the GOP source quoted above, the NRCC has been slow to announce its schedule. Now, the IE groups are going ahead next week and spending $7 million to lock in time for TV spots in House districts. They can’t wait any more, and there might be more doubling up of ad buys. In other words, this is not necessarily the best use of resources.
