Less than a week since becoming the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris is facing a tidal wave of GOP attack ads as she enters the spotlight in the presidential race and while she is benefiting from a massive surge in “earned” media.
The Associated Press reports that former President Trump and his allies are outspending Harris’ campaign 25-1 on TV and radio advertising. Republicans have spent more than $68 million, compared to $2.6 million by Democrats since Monday, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. Top topics include the ongoing border crisis and inflation, as well as her record that critics have presented as extremely left-wing.
Meanwhile, Harris has earned a flood of media coverage since President Biden announced Sunday that he would not stand for re-election and endorsed Harris as his successor. The Trump campaign has dubbed it a “Harris honeymoon” and predicted a polling boost for the former California senator.
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But the Harris campaign is not worried about the flood coming from the Republicans,
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School on July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wisconsin. Harris made her first campaign appearance as the party’s presidential candidate, with an endorsement from President Biden. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images) (Jim Vondruska / Stringer)
“We’re working to get up ads as quickly as we can (though it’s only been three days) and in the meantime she’s dominating earned media,” a campaign official told Politico.
“I think it’s lighting your money on fire to do ads when you’re getting the best and most earned media of the cycle,” Clinton veteran Nick Merrill told the outlet.
That outlet reported that filmmakers were at Harris’ rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday to catch footage for a digital-only ad.
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Republican presidential candidate and former president, Donald Trump, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Meanwhile, the AP reported that the Harris campaign has raised a massive $100 million between Sunday and Monday afternoon, and can launch a robust advertising campaign whenever it wants to.
Harris spokesperson Kevin Munoz told the AP that the vice president “will make her case aggressively alongside a campaign infrastructure designed to win close elections.”
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“In just 24 hours, Kamala Harris put abortion rights front and center for voters, broke fundraising records, and spun Donald Trump out into a manic and public breakdown — because he knows she is best-equipped to prosecute the case against a convicted felon like himself,” he said.
Democratic-backed ads are set to fire up soon too. While there’s only about $2.6 million in ads through the end of August, according to AdImpact, the pro-Biden super PAC Future Forward will roll out a $129 million ad campaign in September.
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But the Trump campaign still has more coming. The pro-Trump Preserve America Super PAC has booked $45 million in ads through the end of August, while MAGA Inc. has booked another $23 million.
Meanwhile, Harris and Trump are locked in an extremely close contest, according to a new national poll conducted entirely after Biden announced that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing his vice president.
Trump stands at 46% support among registered voters in an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll. Harris stood at 45% support. Trump’s one point edge is well within the survey’s sampling error. Nine percent of those questioned were undecided.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
