WASHINGTON – A new group dedicated to promoting President Biden’s ambitious agenda is launching a multi-million dollar advertising campaign that trumpets his Covid recovery package and infrastructure proposal, while contrasting Mr Biden’s low-key style with that of his bombastic predecessor.
Building Back Together, a progressive organization run by Biden allies, will be broadcasting minute-long television commercials next week in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin highlighting the president’s response to the coronavirus and sweeping economic plans. The group plans to spend more than $ 3 million for a month, including a shorter advertisement that will appear on digital platforms in the same four states and North Carolina.
Both of these points differentiate Mr Biden’s approach from that of former President Donald J. Trump.
“You won’t hear him yelling or angry tweets because the actions speak louder for Joe Biden,” says a narrator in the TV commercial.
The shorter digital advertisement concludes: “No drama, just results.”
The strategy shows how determined the Democrats are to continue to fight Mr. Trump effectively. He may not be in the White House or be allowed to send angry or abusive tweets, but his approval ratings have dropped even further since he left the presidency and he remains the best slide for Mr Biden, who has been unusually restrained for a new president.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden draws solid, if not spectacular, early signs, a reflection of the country’s deep polarization.
As he turns to an extensive and expensive menu of domestic proposals aimed at stimulating the economy, fighting poverty and tackling climate change, his supporters hope to retain the electorate support that helped him partly win last year have by reminding them of Mr. Biden’s predecessor.
“The message is simple: chaos is over, competence is in, and help is there for Americans,” said Stephanie Cutter, a Building Back Together advisor who is close to Mr. Biden and senior officials from the West Wing.
The group, which was first reported in February, airs in select and costly markets: Las Vegas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee; and Scranton, Pennsylvania, Mr. Biden’s childhood home. The group has done some research because it has stated that it will not disclose the identity of its donors.
The ads aim to convince people of color, upscale white suburbanites, and the smaller group of working class whites who have switched from supporting Mr. Trump in 2016 to supporting Mr. Biden in 2020 from independent or even Republican-minded voters who supported Mr Biden but may have voted for GOP candidates below.
The goal for this and future ad blitzes, officials say, is to try to cement the president’s new coalition by reminding them of what they may not have liked about Mr. Trump and by following the agenda of Put Mr. Biden up. They hope that by mixing television and digital, they will reach voters across platforms and throughout the day.
Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are not only major battlegrounds for the president, but they also have some of the most significant races for next year’s Senate and governor seats.
These new efforts, mainly aimed at promoting Mr. Biden, could also help Democratic candidates in those states whose medium-term fortunes depend in large part on the president’s popularity. Many in the party, including Mr Biden himself earlier this year, have said that former President Barack Obama did not do enough to highlight his early agenda and paid a price for it in the 2010 midterm elections.
This is the group’s first advertising campaign, but the organization intends to be the main external group for Mr Biden at least until next year’s mid-term election. The name comes from the president’s campaign slogan, which has become an abbreviation for his post-Covid economic proposals.
