Trump’s message is backed with a much smaller US$64,000 purchase of time on the Democrat-friendly cable network MSNBC and the conservative NewsMax TV, according to data from AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm.
The first foray of the marquee candidates into the advertising campaign follows millions in early spending by Republican super-PACs (political action committees), which can raise unlimited money from donors as long as they do not coordinate with the campaigns. Super-PACs backing either Trump or Mr DeSantis have run attack ads against the two in recent weeks.
But unlike his Republican rivals, Mr Biden has a virtually guaranteed free pass to the general election, allowing him to focus on states most important to the electoral college.
His first spending gives a glimpse into an early campaign strategy that will focus on battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Georgia. In many of those states, he is focusing on small markets like Tucson, Arizona; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Flint, Michigan.
The Biden campaign said it plans to spend more than US$1 million in the first two weeks of his campaign, including a second ad beginning next week. BLOOMBERG
