Why Media’s Donald Trump Addiction Is Costing His Rivals Big Bucks

With 13 months to go until election day, an eternity in politics, presidential candidates are seeing their coffers draining at an alarming rate. And they have one person to blame: Donald Trump.

Trump’s presidential rivals are being forced to shell out big bucks on TV ads much earlier than in any other election cycle, with a whopping $20 million already spent on broadcast commercials. That’s compared with only $2.1 million at this same point during the last election cycle -- a tenfold increase. “You have one candidate polling exceedingly well and you worry you have to drag that candidate down,” said Harry Enten, political analyst for FiveThirtyEight. “So yeah, there is a ‘Trump effect.'”