Hillary Clinton has outspent Donald Trump on advertising by almost a 5-1 margin, while Trump has made more than twice as many campaign appearances as the Democratic nominee in the last three weeks — and the 2016 election is now a dead heat.
The Clinton campaign and its allies have spent an estimated $156.6 million on ads in the general election, according to data compiled by NBC News and Advertising Analytics.
In contrast, Trump and his backers have spent approximately $33.6 million.
Clinton’s campaign by itself has spent $96.4 million on advertising, while pro-Clinton outside groups have spent $60.2 million. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has allocated roughly $17.3 million towards advertising, while pro-GOP nominee outside groups have spent about $16.3 million.
Clinton’s advertising advantage comes on top of her massive fundraising hauls, including the $143 million she and her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., raised in August.
Trump’s campaign finally announced this weekend it is planning a major $140 million ad buy to run from now until the Nov. 8 election, but the campaign has not yet paid any vendors.
Clinton’s cash advantage and advertising avalanche may not be enough to win her the White House, though, as the 2016 election is now a dead heat, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week.
The poll showed likely voters split 46 percent for the Democratic nominee and 44 percent for the Republican, which is consistent with other national surveys of the 2016 presidential election.
Clinton is ahead by 2.3 points according to a RealClearPolitics’ polling average.
In all the time that Clinton has spent fundraising, Trump has been busy traveling from one campaign rally to the next. He has also delivered several keynote addresses.
So far for the month of September, Trump has spoken at 19 rallies in cities including Wilmington, Ohio, Virginia Beach, Va., Greenville, N.C., Philadelphia, Pa., Cleveland, Ohio, Pensacola, Fla., Asheville, N.C., Des Moines, Iowa, Aston, Pa., Canton, Ohio, Laconia, N.H, Miami, Fla., Colorado Springs, Colo., Fort Meyer, Fla., High Point, N.C., Kenansville, N.C., Toledo, Ohio, Chester, Pa., and Roanoke, Va.
The GOP nominee has also delivered eight major addresses this month, including speeches at the American Legion Veterans Convention in Cincinnati, the Values Voters Summit, the annual gathering of National Guard leaders in Baltimore, the Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., two African-American churches and the New York Economic Club. The GOP nominee also gave an address this month at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., on his recent flip-flop on “birtherism.”
In contrast, Clinton has spoken at approximately seven campaign rallies this month in cities including Cleveland, Ohio, Hampton, Ill., Tampa, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Greensboro, N.C., Philadelphia, Pa., and Orlando, Fla.
The Democratic nominee has likewise delivered four major campaign addresses, including speeches to the National Baptist Convention, the National Hispanic Caucus, the Black Women’s Agenda Symposium Workshop and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Clinton has also held four press conferences this month.
Trump has not held a single press conference in September. His remarks on “birtherism” earlier this month were billed as a presser, but he didn’t take any questions from reporters.
When campaign events headlined by the vice presidential candidates and surrogates from both parties are factored into the mix, the total number of rallies held in September increases exponentially – and Trump still leads Clinton.
