Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Jonathan Martin has a roundup of how much each campaign is spending in the final weeks of the campaign.

Iowa (Jan. 3): 

The former Massachusetts governor is spending over $430,000 between the 18th and 24th on Iowa network TV and is up with over 1,000 gross ratings points in each the four largest markets serving the state.

Romney is plainly spending millions more of his own money this final quarter, but he has repeatedly declined to say just how much he’s putting in. This week alone, though, he’s dropping over $1.7 million dollars on broadcast TV commercials across five states.

Huckabee, who has been interspersing California and Texas fundraisers with Iowa and New Hampshire retail stops to stay competitive on the airwaves, has nearly $244,000 behind his TV effort in the Hawkeye State this week.

In the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets – the two that reach the most Iowa voters – Romney’s TV presence is over twice that of Huckabee. In the smaller cities, Huckabee is more competitive.

The former Tennessee senator has a buy this week of just under $85,000. In the Des Moines market, for example, he’s got about a sixth of what Romney has on the air and a third of Huckabee’s presence.

New Hampshire (Jan. 8): 

Romney is spending $674,000 across the four markets that penetrate New Hampshire households, but McCain has about $545,000 in TV ads up. In the expensive Boston market, McCain is only spending about $20,000 less than Romney. On WMUR, the one broadcast station in New Hampshire, however, Romney is saturating the airwaves with nearly 1,300 points on the Manchester affiliate.

Beyond Romney and McCain, Giuliani still has a sizable buy in the Granite State. Despite cutting back deeply what he was spending in Boston, Giuliani still has $352,000 on the New Hampshire airwaves this week.

Huckabee’s media presence is still minimal. He has nothing on in Boston and only $50,000 worth of spots in Manchester. Similarly, Ron Paul – despite being flush with cash – has no ads on in Boston and just $30,000 worth in Manchester.  

South Carolina (Jan. 19) and beyond: 

Romney has the airwaves all to himself in Michigan, South Carolina and Florida – the three other primary states that come after Iowa and New Hampshire.

Thompson had run some spots in South Carolina, but is now dark there.

As much as cash as he’s spending, Romney is still practicing a degree of restraint. He’s only got small buys in the many markets that sprawl across Michigan and Florida, including just a modest presence on expensive Detroit TV and nothing at all in the Miami market.