Trump makes first battleground state ad buys

[webfact]

Trump makes first battleground state ad buys

By STEVE PEOPLES and JULIE BYKOWICZ

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new brain trust in place, Donald Trump on Thursday moved to invest nearly $5 million in battleground state advertising as the Republican presidential contender took modest steps to address daunting challenges in the states that will make or break his White House ambitions.

 

The New York businessman's campaign reserved television ad space over the coming 10 days in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Kantar Media's political ad tracker. While Democrat Hillary Clinton has spent more than $75 million on advertising in 10 states since locking up her party's nomination, Trump's new investment marks his first of the general election season.

 

Election Day is 81 days away, with early voting in the first states set to begin in five weeks.

 

The step into swing-state advertising, which came after Trump's second staffing shake-up in as many months, did little to alleviate the concerns of Republican officials frustrated with Trump's refusal to adopt the tools of modern-day political campaigns.

 

"We may have reached the point of no return for Donald Trump," said Republican strategist Alex Conant, a senior aide to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign.

 

Earlier in the week, the Republican nominee tapped a combative conservative media executive, Stephen Bannon, to serve as CEO of his presidential bid. Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway filled the campaign manager position left vacant since Trump fired his former campaign chief almost two months ago.

 

Conway insisted Thursday that the new team would help re-focus the nominee, without sacrificing the authenticity that fueled his successful primary campaign.

 

"We're going to sharpen the message," Conway told CNN. "We're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin — that he doesn't lose that authenticity that you simply can't buy and a pollster can't give you. Voters know if you're comfortable in your own skin."

 

Rarely do presidential campaigns wait to advertise, or undergo such leadership tumult, at such a late stage of the general election.

 

Yet Trump has struggled badly in recent weeks to offer voters a consistent message, overshadowing formal policy speeches with a steady stream of self-created controversies, including a public feud with an American Muslim family whose son was killed while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq.

 

He now trails Clinton in preference polls of most key battleground states. And his party leaders, even at the Republican National Committee, have already conceded they may divert resources away from the presidential contest in favor of vulnerable Senate and House candidates if things don't improve.

Trump's advertising plans highlight his shrinking path to the presidency.

 

Although Trump claims his popularity with white, working-class voters could translate to victories in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine or Connecticut, there's little evidence to back that up. His first major ad buys shows him focused on more conventional battlegrounds.

 

Trump is spending at least $1.4 million in Florida, $1 million in Pennsylvania, about $831,000 in North Carolina and $746,000 in Ohio, according to Kantar Media. His biggest single-market investment comes in the Philadelphia area.

 

"That is the most direct route to 270," said Chris Young, RNC field director. "Those states are critical on that pathway."

 

Trump was on the ground Thursday in North Carolina, where he stopped by a local gun range before meeting with police officers in Iredell County.

 

"I gotta say this man can shoot," county Sheriff Darren Campbell said of Trump, who is licensed to carry a hand gun in New York.

 

Clinton met with law enforcement leaders in New York City days after Trump accused her of being "against the police" following a police shooting in Wisconsin.

 

Making no direct mention of her opponent in her opening remarks, Clinton called on Americans to be "clear-eyed" about the country's challenges.

 

"We need to work together to bridge our divides, not stoke even more divisiveness," Clinton said at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

 

Clinton's campaign has spent more than $75 million on ads in the weeks since she effectively locked up the nomination in early June, according to Kantar Media.

 

Trump's campaign has benefited from outside political groups. One, called Rebuilding America Now, has spent about $9 million in the past few weeks. The National Rifle Association's political arm has put more than $4 million into anti-Clinton messages.

 

But those amounts pale in comparison to the $31 million the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA has spent on air since mid-June. And that's just one of several groups helping her.

 

As a sign of confidence, Clinton's campaign recently paused advertising in Virginia and Colorado, while Priorities stopped ads in Virginia and plans to pause them in Colorado and Pennsylvania at the beginning of September. Clinton and her allies have also put field staff in the traditionally red states of Arizona and Georgia, hoping to capitalize on shifting demographics.

 

Trump has struggled so far with women, minorities and young voters.

 

"His performance with those voters is so dismal that it puts other states potentially in play in an offensive way for Democrats," said Jeremy Bird, who ran field operations for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign and is now advising Clinton's operation.

___

AP writer Jill Colvin in Mooresville, North Carolina and Lisa Lerer in Washington contributed to this report.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-19

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Hehe.. This story is quiet... Lol

[Pinot]

Yeah, it's quiet because the Trump campaign is dead in the water. Tweeting and speaking his mind America has had a good look at Cheeto Jesus and they don't like what they see. Now with Breitbart running the campaign we're going to get more of the same. Perfect. Can't wait.  

[iReason]

They are all getting more quiet.

 

The Trumpeteers have no defense for the Bloviator.

 

All they have is: But, but, but, Hillary deflections.

 

Which, rightly so, are being consistently removed for that very reason.

 

There are only 2 or 3 diehard Lemmings left, grasping at straws.

 

Hell, even Boon Mee has given up... 

[JHolmesJr]

Cant wait for the ads,....hes going to destry hillary. 

 

Of course she has a lot more money for advertising.....from her corporate buyers. 

[up-country_sinclair]

Sigh. 

 

81 days out and now he's finally made swing-state ad buys?  I suppose it could be dismissed as amateurism, but in my opinion it's gross incompetence.

 

The  White House is already lost.  The RNC shouldn't provide another dime to the Trump campaign and send it all to the senate campaigns in New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Pennsylvania.  If the Democrats retake the Senate with Secretary Clinton in the White House it will be a disaster for Republicans.

[dunroaming]

I expect a lull in Trumps  rhetoric for a while.  He is clutching at  straws and has to rely on Bannon to come up with some creative advertising to breathe some life back into his dying campaign.  All a bit boring now

[Neurath]

21 minutes ago, up-country_sinclair said:

Sigh. 

 

81 days out and now he's finally made swing-state ad buys?  I suppose it could be dismissed as amateurism, but in my opinion it's gross incompetence.

 

The  White House is already lost.  The RNC shouldn't provide another dime to the Trump campaign and send it all to the senate campaigns in New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Pennsylvania.  If the Democrats retake the Senate with Secretary Clinton in the White House it will be a disaster for Republicans.

Do you think that purchasing advertising on television etc will make any difference now anyway? Trump is pretty much market saturated and his message is his person not his policies - certainly not Republican policies - so I doubt that any advertising between now and November will make any difference. His base, as they call it, is already very motivated to vote. I think peak Trump has passed. If I was an upholder of real republican/conservative policies and virtues I'd be <deleted>..ing furious.

[up-country_sinclair]

10 minutes ago, Neurath said:

 If I was an upholder of real republican/conservative policies and virtues I'd be <deleted>..ing furious.

 

Welcome to my world     

 

It's difficult to determine who is the most to blame:  The no-nothing Trump fanboys, Reince Priebus, or Trump himself.

 

 

And no, advertising at this point is pointless.  The presidential election is over before it even started.  But for God's sake, Secretary Clinton has had tens of millions of dollars in advertising up in swing states for months.  It's mid-August, and the Trump campaign made their first 5 million dollar ad buy.   My understanding that the ground game in some of these swing states is non-existent.  This is an absolute disaster.

Edited August 19, 2016 by up-country_sinclair

[JHolmesJr]

Just now, up-country_sinclair said:

 

Welcome to my world     

 

It's difficult to determine who is the most to blame:  The no-nothing Trump fanboys, Reince Priebus, or Trump himself.

 

O ye of little faith....give it a chance

 

mr Trump is going to bring it......big time....just wait and watch. 

[Neurath]

Don't you see man? That's what he's afraid of.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

O ye of little faith....give it a chance

 

mr Trump is going to bring it......big time....just wait and watch. 

Yeah, sure, he's gonna "bring it" like trump "university" and the trump ghost condo project in Mexico. He's a con artist and the majority of Americans are now wise to his game. 

[Chicog]

I notice the use the singular of the phrase "brain trust", the obvious implication being that they are sharing one between them.

And my guess is that it isn't very big.

 

 

[up-country_sinclair]

6 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

O ye of little faith....give it a chance

 

mr Trump is going to bring it......big time....just wait and watch. 

 

 

What is Trump going to bring besides a Democrat controlled Senate and the quite possibly the end of the GOP?

 

Have you not seen the polling data (or is it that you just don't believe it)?  She's already a lock for approximately 240 electoral votes and likely to reach well over 320.  This is going to be a regular landslide in the electoral college and a monumental landslide in the popular vote.

Edited August 19, 2016 by up-country_sinclair

[Neurath]

6 minutes ago, up-country_sinclair said:

 

Welcome to my world     

 

It's difficult to determine who is the most to blame:  The no-nothing Trump fanboys, Reince Priebus, or Trump himself.

Here's a quote from Michael Oakeshott. It comes to mind when considering the strange strange fact that Trump is running for President on the Republican/Conservative party ticket in our rickety Republic:

 

"To be a conservative then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried too the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss."

 

RIP Republican Party. To be renamed Nativist Party.

[dunroaming]

This must not be the end of the republican party.  I keep banging on about it but they really need to throw out the outdated head in the sand worthless policies and re-invent themselves for the real world.  Until then they are dead in the water! 

[JDGRUEN]

Such silly rhetoric from people who barely know the American system, or from expatriated Americans who believe every syllable of the false Leftist - fabricated U.S. Media propaganda...  -  YET who haven't been back to America in 10-15 years.. And mime "The Trump Sky is falling" - oh yeah sure..  ... such naive Leftist trolls... Tens of thousands of supporters appear at every Trump rally .. a few hundred show up at Hillary's so called 'rallies' ... Do you really think that corruption in the polls is so far fetched when the American News Media is so in bed with Democrats and Leftist Candidates like Hillary ?   Can you be than Naive? 

 

[dunroaming]

Naïve is an interesting word and I guess it will always be used by one side to try to discredit the argument of the other side.  I use it quite a lot.  It's a bit like labels such as lefties or right wing nutjobs.  Gross generalisations that are just meant to demean the "other side".  We are all guilty of that at one time or another.  Time will tell who is being naïve when it comes to the US election.

[up-country_sinclair]

50 minutes ago, JDGRUEN said:

Do you really think that corruption in the polls is so far fetched when the American News Media is so in bed with Democrats and Leftist Candidates like Hillary ?   Can you be than Naive? 

 

 

SMH.  It's almost as if 2012 didn't happen.  

 

Do yourself a favor and google "unskewed polls+Romney+2012".  We've all been down this road before, and it doesn't end well.

[Slip]

1 hour ago, JDGRUEN said:

Such silly rhetoric from people who barely know the American system, or from expatriated Americans who believe every syllable of the false Leftist - fabricated U.S. Media propaganda...  -  YET who haven't been back to America in 10-15 years.. And mime "The Trump Sky is falling" - oh yeah sure..  ... such naive Leftist trolls... Tens of thousands of supporters appear at every Trump rally .. a few hundred show up at Hillary's so called 'rallies' ... Do you really think that corruption in the polls is so far fetched when the American News Media is so in bed with Democrats and Leftist Candidates like Hillary ?   Can you be than Naive? 

 

I thought I would be happy to see when the wheels fell off the nuts, but now it just makes me feel a bit sad.  Trump and the GOP have stolen an election from the American middle-right.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Slip
- not /

[Silurian]

For those who are curious, here is Trump's new ad.

 

 

[iReason]

^^^

Pathetic, desperate, despicable fear mongering directed at the ignorant Sheeple.

Perpetuating bigotry and one of the current, fashionable "Boogey Men".

 

Doom and Gloom rhetoric from the Bloviator and Richard Nixon's "King of Dirty Tricks: Roger Stone.

The architect of Nixon's same campaign. 

 

More Doom and Gloom to come from the Crazy Bloviator and his Breitbart Team.

Next up: The Terrorists.

Be scared. Be very scared.

 

"I alone can fix it." 

[Skywalker69]

5 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

O ye of little faith....give it a chance

 

mr Trump is going to bring it......big time....just wait and watch. 

Keep on dreaming. 

[JHolmesJr]

2 hours ago, Silurian said:

For those who are curious, here is Trump's new ad.

 

 

 

Solid stuff....substance....as opposed to hillarys schoolyard fingerpointing at trumps mannerisms. 

 

Good start....its going to get very hot in the kitchen for hillary in the next few weeks. 

[Jingthing]

16 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

Solid stuff....substance....as opposed to hillarys schoolyard fingerpointing at trumps mannerisms. 

 

Good start....its going to get very hot in the kitchen for hillary in the next few weeks. 

Solid lies and demagoguery, more like.

Nothing new.

No pivot.

There won't  be a pivot.

Same old fear mongering, hate mongering, racist, xenophobic crapola.

Might as well flush the money down the toilet.

The general election voters aren't republican primary voters.

Quote

Trump’s ugly and dishonest new TV ad shows he isn’t changing a thing

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/19/trumps-ugly-and-dishonest-new-tv-ad-shows-he-isnt-changing-a-thing/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.0ab21bb7d624

 

Next! ...

[Buzzz]

Trump has givin up on the presidency and is now working with right wing conspiracy media to build a narrative, "the election is rigged". This will be the basis of Trumps new conspiracy TV show.

[Skywalker69]

If he is going to run USA as he runs his campaign, well... well. 

[Linzz]

On 8/19/2016 at 11:17 PM, iReason said:

They are all getting more quiet.

 

The Trumpeteers have no defense for the Bloviator.

 

All they have is: But, but, but, Hillary deflections.

 

Which, rightly so, are being consistently removed for that very reason.

 

There are only 2 or 3 diehard Lemmings left, grasping at straws.

 

Hell, even Boon Mee has given up... 

 

Nobody knows the future so don't get so excited. You're coming too soon, but you're  in good company with all the premature ejacuators on TVF and the mainstream media.