Biden launching massive ad 'blitz' to hammer 'extreme and out of touch' GOP candidates: report

As Republican presidential candidates prepare for their first primary debate of the 2024 cycle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, August 23rd, President Joe Biden's reelection team "is preparing to blanket the airwaves with a $25 million television and digital ad campaign," CNN's Ariette Saenz explains on Sunday.

"The ad blitz represents Biden's latest attempt to convince skeptical Americans that his policies have led to an improving economy, even as 51% of Americans say they think the economy is still in a downturn or getting worse, according to a recent CNN poll," Saenz writes. "That same poll found only 37% of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the economy and even fewer – 30% – approve of his handling of inflation. The president's overall approval rating stood slightly higher at 41%."

Biden and his team, Saenz states, "seek to highlight the impact of the president's legislative accomplishments, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the American Rescue Plan, with nods to the progress made since the Covid-19 pandemic initially cratered the economy."

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The blitz "will run for 16 weeks on broadcast and cable television in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, officials said," Saenz continues. "The campaign is also placing ads in Hispanic and African American media in each of these states — as well as a targeted buy to reach Hispanic voters in Florida — as they look to court key voting blocs ahead of the 2024 election. This represents the largest and earliest buy a reelection campaign has ever placed in Hispanic and African American media outlets, a campaign official says, along with the largest overall buy for reelection at this point in the cycle."

Biden's campaign, along with former United States Representative Cedric Richmond (D-Louisiana), who serves as senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee, "will hold a press conference in Milwaukee ahead of the debate as a prebuttal to the evening's main event," Saenz says. "Richmond will also hold events aiming to engage key coalition groups, including an event geared toward Black men in Milwaukee and another targeting women voters in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee."

The objective, Biden's campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said per CNN, is to remind voters of the "extreme and out-of-touch positions" held by subscribers to the Make America Great Again credo that was founded by Trump, who as of Sunday plans on skipping the debate to have a one-on-one with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Saenz adds that "In Washington, the DNC and the Biden campaign will set up a messaging 'war room' to provide rapid response throughout the debate."

Trump's absence notwithstanding, "It doesn't matter who 'wins' the debate on Wednesday," Biden's communications director Michael Tyler stressed on Wednesday. "The MAGA Republican presidential candidates have all chosen a losing strategy that is extreme and out of touch with the American people."

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View Saenz's report at this link.