Barack Obama is outspending John McCain by almost three-to-one on television ads nationwide, reports Chris Cillizza. The disparity is staggering in some states. In North Carolina, for instance, Obama has spent $1.5 million on television commercials in the last week, while the McCain campaign has doled out just $137,000.

But one of the few states where the Republican is outspending his Democratic counterpart is Minnesota. The sums are relatively small, but in the last week McCain had ad buys of $377,000, while Obama’s campaign spent just over half that amount.

Coupled with news that the Arizona senator will once again visit Minnesota on Friday, it seems clear that the McCain campaign still believes the state is in play. Most recent polls would suggest otherwise.