Biden campaign plans first big push - skewer the Republican debate
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[August 18, 2023]
By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's re-election campaign
will use next week's Republican debate in the battleground state of
Wisconsin to engage thousands of social media volunteers and launch
their first advertising campaign aimed at Black and Latino voters,
according to a Democratic official.
Republican presidential contenders are gathering in Milwaukee next
Wednesday for their first debate of the 2024 campaign season, even
though front-runner and former President Donald Trump says he will skip
the Fox News broadcast.
Trump may be absent but Democrats will be watching closely, in Milwaukee
and across the country, using it as "as a high-impact press and
organizing opportunity," according to the campaign official, who
declined to be identified.
Starting on Wednesday, the Biden campaign will begin running its third
major paid ad campaign of the election cycle, including the first
messages aimed at Latino and Black media, the official said, while
declining to give a dollar figure.
They plan to placard Milwaukee with advertisements listing Biden's
"record of accomplishments," while a billboard truck will circle the
debate venue. Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond and Democratic
National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison will hold a press
conference before the debate.
The campaign will ask hundreds of thousands of volunteers, particularly
in swing states, to post online during the debate, contrasting
Republican statements with Biden's record, after holding a massive
training session this weekend.
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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about
his intention to visit Hawaii as soon as possible, and federal
assistance in dealing with the Hawaii wildfires, while delivering
remarks during a visit to Ingeteam Inc.’s Milwaukee facility in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File
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"We're using the debate as an opportunity to activate and energize
our supporters, as well as expand support for the Biden-Harris
ticket and our agenda for the middle class and protecting Americans'
freedoms," Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a
statement.
Biden's low-key re-election campaign has so far largely avoided
public rallies and events, with Biden focusing largely on
fundraising and the presidency.
No serious challenge has emerged for Biden's Democratic Party
nomination. A slow start to an incumbent's presidential re-election
campaign is not unusual: Barack Obama held his first official rally
for the 2012 election in May of that year.
Biden needs to woo unimpressed Black and Latino voters who made his
2020 election victory possible, energize Democrats' unenthusiastic
about a second four-year term, and lift his approval ratings from
their current 40% range, political strategists say.
Wisconsin is among a handful of closely divided "swing" states where
both parties are focusing resources in 2024. Biden won the state by
less than a percentage point in 2020; Trump won Wisconsin by a
similar margin in 2016.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons and
Jonathan Oatis)
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