Scoop: Massive Harris ad buy launches wild spending month

Source: Axios

7 hours ago


A massive $50 million ad buy from Vice President Harris' outside super PAC signaled the beginning of a spending rush by both campaigns to empty their war chests in the election's final month.

Why it matters: Both Democrats and Republicans are unleashing more financial political fire — in just seven swing states — than America has ever seen.

The Harris campaign and its super PACs are swimming in cash. Their challenge will be to spend it efficiently and effectively.

For Harris super PAC Future Forward this week, that involves directly appealing to the kind of voter Harris has struggled to attract: white working-class males.

"Trump is fighting for rich guys like himself," says a goateed welder in the new ad, before the screen flashes to a quick shot of Elon Musk. "Kamala is fighting for us."

Zoom in: In the handful of states that will determine the election, political ads on local TV stations are at near saturation levels.

But for campaigns and PACs flush with cash, there's an October hack: Reserve on national cable and just accept that the majority of your viewers aren't your target audience. Go national to win local.

In this buy, Future Forward is placing $10 million on national TV and another $10 million on YouTube.

This week's $50 million buy from Future Forward is part of a campaign that it expects to exceed $350 million. More than $100 million is out the door, according to AdImpact.

Zoom out: In the presidential campaign and in House races, Democrats are pressing their money advantage over Republicans.

In the first week of October, Democrats have spent some $93 million on the presidential campaign, compared to $54 million by Republicans, according to AdImpact.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/10/08/kamala-harris-trump-election-campaign-spending