Campaign budgets are expected to dump an extra $400 million on media this year, in part thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision this month to strike down campaign finance restrictions. And while nearly three-fourths of the total $42 billion will be spent on local media, most of it centered on issues, not candidates, Borrell opines.

That focus could explain why online misses out. While hyperlocal sites have grown over the past year, the operations are still very small and campaigns tend to feel mass media will give them more bang for their bucks. Secondly, most of the major political sites, such as Talking Points Memo, HuffingtonPost, Politico, Drudge Report, Newsmax, and the newest, Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller, the focus is more on national audiences and coverage. Therefore, despite all the talk of ad targeting, local Congressional races are most likely to be fought on the local broadcast airwaves.

Of course, there will always be exceptions and some candidates will splurge on web ads. Still, how many mayoral campaigns can spend a record-breaking $85.2 million on a single race like NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg? Consider that even with all that largesse, Bloomberg devoted only $2.1 million to online ads.