GOP groups top Dems in TV spending

WASHINGTON -- Independent Republican groups are heavily outspending their cross-party counterparts on television advertising in the campaigns for the White House and control of the Senate, eating into President Barack Obama's financial advantage over Mitt Romney and prompting expressions of alarm from top congressional Democrats.

The disparity is most evident in the race for the White House, where Crossroads GPS, Restore Our Future and other organizations aligned with the Republicans spent nearly $37 million on TV ads through the first few days of June, most of it attacking Obama. That compares with about $11 million by groups supporting the president, with much of it from Priorities USA Action.

Underscoring the concern, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills), who heads his party's efforts to regain House control, issued a thinly veiled call for donors to step up. The recent recall election in Wisconsin "should serve as a wake-up call," he wrote, referring to the lopsided advantage in spending by outside groups that helped Republican Gov. Scott Walker overcome a union-backed bid to remove him from office.

Other Democratic efforts to catch up are less publicized, particularly when it comes to Priorities USA Action, the group formed to boost Obama's re-election.

David Axelrod, a top strategist for the president, is expected to meet with potential donors to the group in New York on Monday according to officials familiar with his plans. Separately, former President Bill Clinton has agreed to help.

Outside groups have allowed Romney to remain competitive in the television ads wars while restocking a treasury that was depleted during the battle for the Republican nomination. It also raises the possibility that Obama, the Democratic Party and allied groups will be outspent by a combination of Romney, the GOP and allied organizations, erasing an advantage the president had in 2008.

In the general election race for the White House, television ads designed to aid Obama totaled about $55 million through the early days of June. Of that, the president's own campaign spent $44.7 million, more than 80 percent of the total, with $9.3 million from Priorities USA Action.

The situation was reversed among Republicans, where outside groups put up about $37 million of $44 million spent so far on television ads, or more than 80 percent of the GOP total. Romney's campaign has spent about $7.8 million.