President Biden’s re-election campaign is already spending big, splashing $25 million on an ad buy in swing states as poll numbers show dropping public confidence in his age, competence and electability.
The Biden 2024 campaign launched the 16-week ad blitz last month — well ahead of the timetable followed by his two immediate predecessors, former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
The Obama re-election campaign placed its first major ad buy in March 2012, while the Trump 2020 campaign went heavy on the airwaves in October of that election year.
Biden, the Democratic National Committee and their affiliates boasted a $77 million war chest at the end of the second quarter of this year, $23 million of which was raked in by the president’s re-election campaign, according to the Washington Post.
It’s unclear whether the campaign’s fundraising will be able to pay for the swing-state ads alone or whether it will have to dip into other committees’ funds, a source familiar with the matter told the outlet.
Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told the paper that the early move may sound alarm bells for the commander-in-chief.
“If you are the incumbent president and you are spending $25 million more than a year ahead, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out you have a problem and need to fix it,” he said.
Trump hauled in $53.8 million in the first half of 2023, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is polling in a distant second place to the former president, raised $20 million after launching his campaign in late May.
“In a fragmented media environment, it’s more important than ever for our campaign to be investing early and aggressively across platforms to deliver our message where voters are,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
“While Republicans duke it out and burn cash fighting each other, our campaign is reaching our general election audience early and consistently — which is critical for winning in November 2024.”
The TV and digital advertising push comes as voters say they are skeptical of the 80-year-old president, with majorities of Democrats citing concerns about his mental ability and electability, according to a recent CNN poll.
Two-thirds of Democrats also believe the president is too old to serve a second term in office, a Wall Street Journal survey released last week shows.
The ads will air on CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, YouTube and streaming sites like Hulu in states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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