Biden Campaign Spends Over Twice on Ads Compared to Trump
Primary Rival Bloomberg Also Invests $15 Million
Biden's Fundraising Dominates with Support from Highly Educated, High Income, Wall Street, Women
Trump Mobilizes Large Volunteer Force for Ground Game
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] D-5 until the U.S. presidential election. As the election approaches its final stage, the 'war of money' is also reaching its peak. Presidential candidates are mobilizing all available resources to launch a full-scale offensive in political advertising. The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, which has ample financial resources, plans to spend 20 billion KRW per day on advertising during the remaining period. The Donald Trump campaign, at a financial disadvantage, is focusing on ground campaigns by deploying a large number of volunteers to visit households.
On the 28th (local time), U.S. media including the political news outlet The Hill reported, citing advertising analytics firm Advertising Analytics, that both the Trump and Biden campaigns will launch massive political advertising campaigns ahead of the November 3 presidential election.
In terms of advertising scale and scope, Biden is pulling ahead of President Trump. The Biden campaign plans to spend $51 million (approximately 57.8 billion KRW) during the remaining period. Additionally, external organizations supporting Biden plan to spend $36 million. On the other hand, the Trump campaign, facing financial shortages, has received support from the Republican National Committee and others, but has not been able to close the gap in advertising scale. The Trump campaign will spend $11 million, with the Republican National Committee adding $15 million. Furthermore, outside organizations supporting the Trump campaign will pour in $20 million. In effect, the Biden side is spending nearly twice as much on advertising.
The Biden campaign is allocating a massive advertising budget not only in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arizona but also in Texas, known as a Republican stronghold, running more than twice the amount of ads compared to the Trump campaign in most battleground states. The Trump campaign has outspent Biden only in Ohio and North Carolina. Moreover, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who participated in the Democratic primaries, plans to invest $15 million in advertising in Florida and Ohio, further increasing Biden's advantage in the advertising war.
This year's presidential election is considered to have increased the importance of advertising more than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since in-person campaigning is avoided, advertising is expected to have a significant influence on voters. However, due to the overwhelming difference in financial resources, the Trump campaign is conducting door-to-door canvassing by volunteers visiting voters individually.
The difference in advertising scale in the final stage of the election is due to the financial gap between the two sides. According to an analysis by The New York Times, as of the 14th, the Biden campaign had raised $1.07 billion in donations, while the Trump campaign had raised $734 million. Biden's campaign finance balance stands at $162 million, whereas the Trump campaign has only $43 million remaining.
This outcome is interpreted as reflecting a higher probability of Biden's victory, influencing the scale of donations. Even Wall Street, traditionally favoring the Republican Party, has supported Biden with more donations. According to CNBC, major Wall Street donors contributed $74 million to the Biden campaign but only $38 million to the Trump campaign. Women's donations also favored Biden. According to CNN, although women originally donated more to Biden than to Trump, donations from women increased significantly after Kamala Harris was nominated as the vice-presidential candidate.
However, there are also opinions that donations alone do not determine the election outcome. In the previous election, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spent more than twice as much as President Trump but lost. The Trump campaign is also hoping for a turnaround despite the financial disadvantage. A Trump campaign official told the Los Angeles Times, "You can't buy the presidency with money," adding, "Voters will cast their ballots for the candidate they support."
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