Political Ads, Iowa Caucuses | featured news

President Obama's re-election campaign has taken out big ads on the website of the Des Moines Register that dig at Republicans on caucus day... "The Republican candidates are leaving Iowa. But their terrible plans are here to stay," proclaims the ad, which takes you to a page to sign up with the Obama-Biden re-election campaign.

As Iowa Republicans take in the final appeals before tonight’s caucus voting, one major lesson the candidates will take away: Going negative works. An estimated $5.8 million was spent on television advertising in Iowa through Dec. 30, with $3.7 million financing negative ads, according to most recent data available from New York-based Kantar Media’s CMAG, a company that tracks advertising.

A "super PAC" associated with Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign launched a $3.1 million ad buy in Iowa on Thursday, starting with an ad attacking President Obama's job-creation record and touting Romney's.