* Independent expenditures against Democratic congressional candidate Cheri Bustos had already topped $2.1 million. And now Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS has weighed in with a new TV ad…

I’m told that Crossroads has placed $540k in the Quad Cities, $174K in Rockford and $171K in Peoria, for a total of $885,000. But the Moline Dispatch reported today that they’re spending $749k.

Either way, that ad will help to balance out the outside money spent against Republican incumbent Bobby Schilling, who has endured almost $2.3 million in spending against him, mainly from the DCCC, House Majority PAC and some unions.

* Related…

* Bustos campaign slams Schilling over future of Medicare: “The other side isn’t coming to the table to offer solutions,” Schweppe said. “Bobby is the only candidate in this race with a plan to save and protect Medicare, and that is why he supported the Ryan budget.”

* Chuck Sweeney: Tying a bag of Quinn around Bustos: Maybe it was a cunning strategy for Schilling to link Bustos with Quinn, even if it is an unfair comparison. Quinn has a record. Bustos doesn’t. She doesn’t advocate a massive income tax increase, something Quinn signed into law, raising our state income tax 67 percent. But what’s fair in politics? Nothing. The word’s not in the political dictionary..

* RRStar View: Election endorsements coming