Spending about a quarter of a billion dollars on TV ads
The ad war makes the 2020 election campaign a race to raise money
The Trump campaign early jumped to the top spot in television advertising spending. Getty
A Trump campaign official said that many Americans know Joe Biden's name but not much about him. Archives
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US President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and their allies have allocated nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to buying TV ads in the weeks leading up to the general election in November, to focus on what could be the largest group of swing states in recent history. The two parties have booked broadcasts in dozens of states, including those that are usually battlegrounds, in addition to states that were previously considered to be par excellence or under Republican control.
The Trump campaign, marked by a lot of money, had early jumped to an advanced position in television advertising spending. The Trump campaign has allocated nearly $ 150 million to television ads in 12 states, including $ 40 million in Florida alone, the state the president considers his home.
"The unprecedented donations that President Trump received provided his campaign with the money necessary to implement all of the plans we have set," said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh. "We know that many Americans know the name Joe Biden, but they don't know much about him," he added. We will change that, and the Americans will realize that it is just an empty vessel that is being filled with the programs of the extreme left. ”
Trump's campaign has now allocated about $ 16 million in Pennsylvania, 13 million in Michigan, and 7.8 million in Wisconsin, the three states known as the "rust belt", which transferred him to the final of the electoral college in 2016.
Signs
There are signs that Trump is hoping to be reelected for another four years, as his campaign booked broadcasts of $ 7 million in New Hampshire, where former candidate Hillary Clinton won just 2,700 votes. Trump's team booked broadcasts in Minnesota with $ 14 million, a state in which Trump lost by only 45,000 votes, and which has not voted for a Republican president since 1972. The Trump campaign has booked broadcasts in Nevada for $ 6.2 million, the records show. the public. But Trump will spend millions defending the states that he easily won in 2016.
His campaign booked the broadcast in Ohio with $ 18 million, as Trump beat Clinton with 8% of the vote, and 5.8 million in Iowa, winning about 10 points. Trump's team will spend at least $ 16.9 million in North Carolina, and $ 7 million in Arizona, two states it won by just three points in 2016, said a political expert at Washington State University and co-director of the Wesleyan Media project, which monitors spending on political ads. Travis Redout, "It looks like there will be a healthy number of states competing this time, and it looks like there's a lot of money to have a lot of ads as well."
But Biden's campaign was not focused on booking broadcasts as heavy as the Trump campaign, although it announced last Tuesday that it would spend $ 15 million on TV ads over the next week.
Biden will buy broadcasts in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and will air TV commercials during the opening of the Major League Baseball later this week.
Before the ads were published, Biden's team booked airtime for $ 2.4 million, spread over the previous six states, from now until Election Day. "We have collected more funding than the Trump campaign has in two consecutive months, and we have bridged the financial gap between us, and we will publish a paid media program, from now until election day, which is positive for Biden's reliable and proven leadership during the elections," said Biden campaign spokesman Matt Hill. This is the period when the Corona crisis appears to be at its height. ”
"We will broadcast ads on the air and online to make sure that voters know that there is one candidate who can bring the Coronavirus under control, preserve the economy, and restore America's spirit as it was, it is Biden," he added.
17 media markets
Most of the money that the Democratic party spends comes from the "Political Action Committee", which collects donations for the elections, which has so far managed to reserve television broadcasts worth 50 million dollars between now and election day.
The group has booked broadcast times in the tens of millions at 17 media markets across the aforementioned six states that Biden is focusing on, according to advertising information gathered by The Hill newspaper.
The PAC bought five million dollars worth of TV broadcasts in cities like Detroit, Tampa, Orlando, and Philadelphia, and they will spend about five million dollars in Phoenix. "By spending these sums, we aim to obtain 270 votes in the electoral college, and this does not mean that we believe that other states are less important than the ones in which we spent the money," said the committee’s senior adviser, Ghosh Shwerin.
On the Republican side, the "First American Action" organization, which was formed in order to implement Trump's "America First" policy, has booked broadcasts worth $ 29 million, and the lion's share of this money was in the markets of Pampa and Orlando, where 16.1 million would be spent. Dollars in them.
In total, foreign Democratic groups have provided about $ 80 million to reserve television broadcasts, which are earmarked for the presidential competition so far, while Republican spending has mostly come from First American Action.
Spending will double
The initial spending is sure to double, given that outside campaigns and groups raise more money, and the field of competition is changing. Polls suggest that states like Georgia and Texas could participate in the competition, even though no Democratic groups have bought airtime in them.
Initial spending will double, as outside campaigns and groups raise more money, and the playing field changes.