It's the first day of summer, and if you plan to beat the heat by kicking back in front of the tube, be prepared for an onslaught of political ads against President Barack Obama, none of which will be paid for by Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
Three outside groups are independently launching multimillion-dollar ad campaigns that will run over the next 10 days in battleground states across the country. The organizations, Restore Our Future, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Americans for Prosperity (AFP), plan to spend a combined $19.1 million on the three ads.
Restore Our Future, the primary super PAC supporting Romney's campaign, is launching the largest blitz, with an eight-state, $7.6 million air-time buy. The ad knocks Obama for saying during a recent press conference that the "private sector is doing fine," and focuses on unemployment. The Americans for Prosperity spot—which shares the same title, "Doing Fine"—also uses the Obama sound bite and a similar argument. Concerned Women for America's ad takes a different approach, focusing on health care policy. Their ad will run during the period in which the Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision about the constitutionality of the president's health care law.
The ads for two of the groups, CWA and AFP, are being paid for through the organizations' 501(c)(4) nonprofit arms, which are not required to release the names of their donors. Restore Our Future, a super PAC that can directly advocate for a candidate, must disclose that information.
See the three ads, which began running in swing states on Wednesday, below:
Organization: Restore Our Future, the primary super PAC supporting Romney
Name of ad: "Doing Fine"
The buy: $7.6 million
The spread: Ads will air June 20-30 in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Type of group: Super PAC, which must reveal names of donors
Organization: Americans for Prosperity, a grass-roots conservative activist network
Name of ad: "Doing Fine"
The buy: $5.5 million
The spread: Ten-day run in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania starting June 20
Type of group: 501(c)(4), not legally required to release names of donors
Organization: Concerned Women for America, a group that focuses on supporting social conservative issues
Name of ad: "Care"
The buy: $6 million
The spread: Ad will run for nine days starting June 20 in Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Type of group: This buy is paid for through the CWA Legislative Committee, a 501(c)(4) that is not legally required to release the names of donors.