Trump campaign just bought thousands in ad time in this 'deep-red' state

26 August 2024

Could Florida go blue? Democrats have been saying yes since at least April, when the Biden campaign declared the state “winnable” after launching Latinos con Biden-Harris in South Florida and running TV ads aimed at the Hispanic community one month earlier. Strategists chimed in, in agreement, after two major ballot initiatives were approved for the November election: abortion and marijuana.

With Vice President Kamala Harris now at the top of the ticket, a recent Florida Atlantic University poll has her within the margin of error.

Florida’s WTSP last week reported, “as enthusiasm among Democrats surges for Kamala Harris, local party chairs have different attitudes on the state of the race and if they think Florida is in play. They do agree on this: Vice President Kamala Harris’s rise in the polls, including in Florida, is real.”

The FAU poll shows Trump up by just three points over Harris, 50-47, within the margin of error.

“Florida is definitely in play,” Pinellas County Democratic Committee Chair Jennifer Griffith told WTSP. “The mood is lifted, the enthusiasm is up.”

“We’re not too worried,” Hillsborough County Republican Party Chair Tom Gaitens told the news station. “She’s had this coronation for 29 days. She’s going to get another week of it because of the convention.”

“From our standpoint, we want them to think that it’s narrowing here in Florida,” Gaitens added. “Every dime they spend here is a dime they can’t spend in Pennsylvania or some of the other more competitive states.”

That doesn’t explain why the Trump campaign “is placing new ad spending on cable news nets on the Effectv interconnect in West Palm Beach, Fla.,” according to Medium Buying. “Start date is tomorrow, 8/27; 15-second spots.”

Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott remarked, “Got to love when a campaign has to spend vital resources on an ad buy to boost candidate ego.”

The Bulwark’s reporter in Florida, Marc Caputo, says, “Trump is in little danger of losing Florida. But his staff is in great danger of incurring his wrath if he —and his Palm Beach pals— don’t see his ads at Mar-a-Lago.”

But Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Phillip Jerez, a Harris campaign senior adviser, says, “Donald Trump is scared of losing Florida.” And U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) agrees: “Trump is spending money on TV ads in Florida now. He’s worried and he should be.”

Nearly two weeks ago, former Obama campaign spokesperson Kevin Cate, an award-winning progressive campaigns filmmaker and strategist wrote: “I think Trump spends first TV dollars in Florida (for his ego and against his team’s advice). And that’s how you’ll know we’re in landslide territory.”

Meanwhile, Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried on MSNBC declared, “Donald Trump and [GOP Senator] Rick Scott are in trouble here in the state of Florida. And we all know that Trump can’t win the presidency without the state. So, all eyes are going to continue being on the state of Florida.”

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