With the 2012 election in full swing, CNN is spending the week focusing on Super PACs. The network kicks off an In Depth series today that will focus on what the groups are and how much influence they have. In a CNN column, EVP Mark Whitaker has details:

It’s become an easy talking point that this will be the most expensive presidential race in history, and that super PACs could tip the outcome. But in a special In Depth series of reports across all our prime-time and daytime television shows and digital platforms this week, CNN will take a hard look at that conventional wisdom – exploring what super PACs are, what they do, who funds them, and how much power they really have.

The series, which will air on CNN’s primetime and daytime programming all week, will begin this afternoon on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”