Biden unveils $4M Iowa ad campaign

Joe Biden’s 2020 White House campaign on Friday unveiled a new $4 million ad buy in Iowa as the former vice president sees his poll numbers slip in the crucial early caucus state.

The ad campaign, which will run on both broadcast and digital platforms in the Hawkeye State, seeks to underscore Biden’s commitment to rebuilding the middle class.

{mosads}“Donald Trump has spent his presidency enriching himself, cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, and turning his back on the hardworking families who built this country. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is putting forward a different vision for America where we rebuild an inclusive middle class and open the doors of opportunity to all Americans,” said campaign manager Greg Schultz.

“With less than 100 days until the Iowa caucus, we are blanketing the state on the air and online to remind voters of the striking differences between Donald Trump’s selfish and senseless actions and Joe Biden’s inclusive economic vision for the middle class.”

The campaign, which features one 30-second television ad and two other digital ads, works to cast Biden as a candidate who understands the economic struggles of middle-class families.

“Maybe the most important thing my mom and dad taught me was that everyone should be treated with dignity,” Biden said in the ad “Scranton Values,” a reference to his blue-collar hometown. “Today, too many middle-class and working-class people are not able to look their kid in the eye and say ‘honey, it’s going to be OK,’ and mean it. That’s why I’m running, to rebuild the backbone of this country — the middle class.” 

Biden has leveraged much of his campaign on his appeal to working-class voters, often citing his middle-class background and campaigning on issues such as the “dignity of work” and union empowerment. 

His campaign last month reserved $6 million worth of prime advertising space on television and digital platforms in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The new $4 million ad campaign will run through the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3. 

The ads’ release comes as the Biden campaign works to gain momentum in Iowa, which will hold the first nominating contest of the 2020 primary cycle. A New York Times–Siena College poll released Friday showed a tight race in Iowa, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) leading and Biden slipping to fourth.