A couple of amazing things

First of all, what Jim said, about seeing an Obama ad in AZ -- yeah, he is kind of showing off. Though, in fairness this cycle is a little unusual in that both sides are buying a lot of national ads, so that may have been what you saw. Was it AZ-specific?

Here's an insight from Chris Cilliza at the WaPo:

Reports obtained by The Fix detailing spending by the two campaigns as well as the Republican National Committee show that Obama dropped more than $32 million on television in 17 battleground states between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13 -- an increase of $12 million over what he spent between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6.
During that same time period, McCain spent approximately $10 million on ads in 14 states (the Arizona senator is not on television in Indiana, Michigan or Montana) while the RNC's independent expenditure effort disbursed $6 million more in eight states.

So Obama's on the air in three more states and at a more than 2 to 1 margin. That's entirely due to his huge money advantage. His decision to forgo federal financing, while it cost him a bit of bad press in June, looks to be a prescient move.

The other thing that blew me away today, via Politico's Ben Smith, quoting a republican consultant:

The two most unreal moments of my professional life of watching focus groups:

54 year-old white male, voted Kerry '04, Bush '00, Dole '96, hunter, NASCAR fan...hard for Obama said: "I'm gonna hate him the minute I vote for him. He's gonna be a bad president. But I won't ever vote for another god-damn Republican. I want the government to take over all of Wall Street and bankers and the car companies and Wal-Mart run this county like we used to when Reagan was President."

The next was a woman, late 50s, Democrat but strongly pro-life. Loved B. and H. Clinton, loved Bush in 2000. "Well, I don't know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I'm sick of paying for health insurance at work and that's why I'm supporting Barack."

So these are people who believe the smears, they accept the premise not just that Obama knew Ayers, but actually worked with the Weathermen, and they are still voting for him! Wowie. The only realy conclusion I can draw is that the Republican party is fucked, pure and simple, and maybe for a long time. (?)