LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – No, dear voter, it wasn’t a dream. If you sat down in front of a television in Arkansas lately, you really did see that many political ads.
Some of you might even argue the final days of this election season have been a nightmare.
“There is so much negative advertising from the politicians that I don’t know what they do stand for,” said Jason Mizell, who cast an early ballot Friday at a Little Rock library.
And not just in Arkansas. Across the country, in the first election since both parties fully embraced the new world of campaign finance created by Supreme Court decisions, including Citizens United, the television ads during the campaign’s final hours were practically nothing but politics.
Total federal spending was expected to reach the $4 billion mark, pushing these midterm elections to record levels. Deep-pocketed donors funneled millions to outside groups, which in many races accounted for more than two-thirds of the spending in competitive races.