How Much Does Political Spending Matter?

Buzzfeed:

A summer of vast campaign spending and dark warnings about sinister, secret donors is on the verge of being replaced by a fall in which rich men spend a lot of time explaining to their wives why they wasted millions of dollars.

That's my impression, too. I could still end up eating my words on this one, but so far it looks to me like the huge sums of money spent by rich conservatives have mostly fattened the wallets of consultants and tv networks. Sheldon Adelson's $10 million did nothing for Newt Gingrich, and whatever huge sum he is spending on Romney is not likely to help much, either.

I suspect these men would have much better luck if they concentrated on Congressional races or even state house races. When the voters know little about the candidates, a million dollars can make a difference, but really any American who cares already knows more than enough about Obama and Romney to make a decision. Especially in the battleground states, people are already sick of political ads and mostly tune them out.