US President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 8, 2024.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden visited Pennsylvania on Friday to begin a tour of battleground states and his re-election team will spend $30 million on ad buys as he quickly moves into the US general election campaign after his feisty State of the Union address.
Campaign officials who briefed reporters said Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in March will rally Democrats in several states where the Nov. 5 election against Republican opponent Donald Trump is likely to be decided.
After Pennsylvania on Friday, Biden will visit Georgia on Saturday, New Hampshire on Monday, Wisconsin on Wednesday, and Michigan on Thursday. Harris will visit Arizona on Friday and Nevada on Saturday.
An estimated 32.2 million people watched Biden's State of the Union address, according to Nielsen ratings from 14 television networks. Nielsen said the number of viewers was up 18% from Biden's speech last year, which attracted 27.3 million viewers.
The number of viewers of live events on television has declined sharply as audiences gravitate to on-demand streaming services. TV ratings don't capture all of the viewership on streaming services or social media.
Biden campaign officials have said they expect a very close race against Trump, with polls showing a close race for the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Biden campaign manager Jolie said: “We firmly believe that this race will be won on the ground across key states that provide multiple paths to reach 270 votes, and everything we do this month to start the general election is based on this premise.” Chavez Rodriguez.
Cabinet officials and other senior aides are also setting off on official visits in a variety of states such as Ohio and Florida to outline Biden's agenda.
Polls show Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, closely matched, with most voters unenthusiastic about a rematch after Biden's victory over Trump four years ago.
Deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty said the $30 million in ad buys over the next six weeks is more than the Biden campaign spent in all of 2023. He said Biden's State of the Union address Thursday night sparked the biggest day of fundraising yet for the incumbent Democrat. . No number was provided.
As of last month, the campaign had raised more than $42 million in January and had $130 million in cash on hand for the general election fight.
The $30 million ad buy will target voters across a wide range of digital platforms, some of which target key Democratic constituencies, including Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans, Flaherty said.
The ads will also run on popular channels Comedy Central and ESPN.
On Friday, Biden visited a Philadelphia suburb that has been transformed during the Trump era.
In 2015, Democrats had a slim 6,665 voter registration advantage over Republicans. Today, that margin has swelled to 57,139, according to the state's latest voting registration data.
For Biden to win the battleground state, he needs to achieve winning margins in Philadelphia and the city's surrounding suburbs such as those in Delaware County.
