Obamacare Critics Dominate the Ad War

Opponents of Obamacare have a huge advantage over supporters when it comes to advertising. Critics have outspent backers by more than three-to-one on TV ads, according to a new report from Kantar Media, The Hill reports.

That may be one reason why public opinion of the 2010 healthcare law hasn’t improved since it was passed two years ago. Opinion has remained fairly evenly divided over the law since then, confounding Democrats who predicted that people would come to embrace Obamacare once they learned more about it.

As for the ads, Kantar report that opponents have shelled out about $204 million for them, while supporters have spent about $58 million.

There have been 410 entities producing more than 1,000 ads blasting Obamacare. Supporters, meanwhile, have used only 48 advertisers to produce 90 ads.

“At least at this point in the story of the healthcare law, just ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court arguments next week, one side has made a much bigger investment toward winning the argument with voters,” Kantar vice president Elizabeth Wilner said in a statement. “For the law’s supporters, closing the gap in advertising would require not just more spending and different targeting, but the sudden boost of a Court victory.”