Liberal Groups Spending Less Than GOP

Seeking to respond to the influx in spending from conservative-leaning groups this cycle, left-leaning third party organizations are trying new strategies in order to stretch their dollars to compete.

Across the board, Democrat-backed third party groups acknowledge that there is no way they can match the funds of organizations that are supporting the GOP, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 60 Plus, Americans for Prosperity and American Crossroads.

As a result, groups that have had large footprints in previous cycles like MoveOn and labor unions are largely abandoning the TV airwaves so far, choosing instead to focus on mobilizing their members in grassroots efforts. In some cases, they are even going so far as to campaign on undermining the conservative third party groups.

"Our focus and the unique factor that we have is our grassroots power," said Eddie Vale, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO. "When you look at our members, retirees, and folks in their households we can get in touch with 17M folks. Instead of seeing a 30-second spot on TV, we're having a conversation at a work site or sending a mail piece from their union."

One new strategy on the left has come from MoveOn, which has taken to both targeting Republicans and the third party groups that back them. MoveOn went on the air last week in New Hampshire targeting the Republican Senate nominee and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"They say you can judge a person by the company they keep," the narrator says in the New Hampshire spot. "Well Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte (R) is getting a million dollars worth of help from the Chamber of Commerce, a group recently accused of tax fraud."

"If Kelly Ayotte's on their side," the ad concludes, "do you think she'd be on yours?"

The ad's message is twofold: It, obviously, attacks Ayotte, but it also seeks to undermine the U.S. Chamber, which has already invested hundreds of thousands in airing ads in the state.

The ad also shows the MoveOn believes that it can gain from making the U.S. Chamber's involvement an issue in the race.

"Grassroots organizations on the left will never be able to match the deep-pocketed, corporate-backed right-wing front groups dollar for dollar," said Ilyse Hogue, a spokeswoman for MoveOn. "We may not have $400 million in oil and Wall Street money, but what we have do have is a widespread and visceral understanding that if the same lobbyists and CEOs who got rich driving the economy into a ditch and outsourcing American jobs are bankrolling ads in your district or state."

MoveOn spent only $50K on airing the ad in New Hampshire, according to sources who monitor ad buying, and another $40K on a similar ad in Kentucky. That's barely a drop in the bucket compared to the spending of the Chamber and other groups on the right, who have already invested millions. On Tuesday alone, the conservative American Crossroads (a href=" http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/09/american_crossr_3.php"> announced $1.9M in new ad buys.

That means that MoveOn is largely betting on their grassroots efforts making a difference in the election.

Conservative groups, however, are pushing back on the narrative that they are outspending the left by a large margin. They point to reports that unions plan to spend $100M this year.

"The Chamber has been and will continue to be engaged in the political debate," said Chamber spokesman J.P. Fielder. "However, we'll focus our efforts on educating voters about where candidates stand on policies that create jobs. This election cycle will be a referendum on where candidates stand on policies that create jobs. If MoveOn wants to join this debate about how to get America's economy going again, we welcome their views. However, we will not be distracted by baseless attacks. "

Other groups on the left are similarly focusing on less expensive forms of voter contact. The AFL-CIO says that the most effective way for them to spend their money isn't engaging in an air war but rather facilitating face-to-face interaction with their members. Their affiliates, such as AFSCME, will air some commercials, but so far the AFL-CIO has focused almost exclusively on a robust mail, phone and flyer programs that includes 4.5M mail pieces so far.

Similarly, SEIU is using a $44M budget mainly on phones, mail and voter contact. They have already done some TV advertising in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. But for the most part, they are focusing on mail and other voter contact programs so far.