• The Baltimore Sun, Thursday, April 3, 2008 11:15 AM

Sen. Barack Obama is outspending Sen. Hillary Clinton by a three-to-one ratio coming into the crucial Pennsylvania primary, according to one top ad tracker. Obama is facing a tough battle overcoming Clinton's apparent advantage in the April 22 Keystone State primary. "He has dropped a couple million bucks in his first week on the air there,'' says Evan Tracey, COO for Campaign Media Analysis, a unit of TNS.

Obama is now spending about $150,000 a day for TV ads in Pennsylvania, Tracey says, triple Clinton's levels. Since Obama started TV in Pennsylvania on March 21, he has about $2 million. Clinton rolled out ads on four days later and has spent just $440,000. "Part of it is putting his fund-raising advantage to work,'' Tracey notes. "If he spends a lot there, she has to spend a lot to keep up with him."

Within its half-dozen media markets in Pennsylvania -- the biggest and most expensive being Philadelphia and Pittsburgh -- Obama is buying close to 2,000 gross ratings points, or enough for the average TV viewer to see an ad at least 20 times during its cycle.

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