have made this a campaign issue. from the president on down, we have been hearing about it more and more from them saying that these republican shadowy groups are out there spending unlimited dollars. i will tell you in talking privately to many dids the reason they're doing that is because they are being outspent and they're very worried about it. they're also hoping the more they talk about it the more they hope democratic donors will pony up and help their candidates. so that's the reason why we're hearing so much about it. but it is a huge thing. the spending is enormous this year and outside groups especially in some of the most competitive senate races are spending more than the candidates themselves. >> mark, i know you've got a couple thoughts on this, as well. >> yeah, you know, tony, i mean, look, why we've seen republicans use these outside groups so effectively as dana's piece shows is because democrats control congress and the white house and are expected to raise tons of money and they've done very well, so we haven't seen