By Gerren Keith Gaynor
This week, the Biden-Harris campaign released its first targeted radio ad buy in key competitive swing states as part of a historic $25 million paid media campaign. The “Commitment” ad highlights executive and legislative actions that the president expects have made a real difference for Black America.
Policy actions include an executive order signed advancing racial equity throughout every federal agency on Biden’s first day in office. Funding for Black businesses has also been expanded to help close the racial wealth gap, and costs of energy bills and prescription drugs like insulin have been lowered through the Inflation Reduction Act.
“There’s no doubt Black voters have been and will continue to be the backbone of the democratic coalition,” said Michael Tyler, the Biden-Harris campaign’s communications director. “They were crucial to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory in 2020. They were crucial to our historic successes in the midterms.”
The campaign released its first nationwide ad targeting Black voters in September with the TV ad “First Day,” which highlighted President Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic crisis. A second TV ad, “Get Ahead,” was released almost two weeks ago.
Faced with the greatest public health crisis in a century, the greatest economic crisis since the Great Recession, and the greatest threat to our democracy in our lifetimes, Tyler said, “He got to work particularly on fixing the economy. It wasn’t just about restoring the economy that we had, pre-pandemic. It was also an opportunity for him to tackle what he saw as historic injustices that were baked into the fabric of our economy.
With growing income inequality and a growing racial wealth gap, Black communities had been victimized by disinvestment for generations, said Tyler. The stakes are high for the Black community, he said.
Through the first round of ads, the campaign wanted to ensure that people “understand the intent behind what the president has accomplished.”
The results of Bidenomics have been lowering the Black unemployment rate to the lowest rate ever and unprecedented funding to HBCUs, explained Tyler. The bipartisan infrastructure law also addresses neglected infrastructure in Black communities. The results are not a byproduct of the president’s work, he said, but his precise intent.
The campaign’s latest targeting of Black voters through radio is an intentional strategy, as more than 90 percent of Black adults consume radio monthly. While the Biden-Harris campaign acknowledged that voters might not be consuming political news at the moment, they didn’t want to wait until election season was in full swing to reach them where they were with the president’s message.
The campaign also launched its rapid response operation at the Biden campaign’s headquarters in Delaware to push back against misinformation and disinformation on social media – another platform where Black voters consume information and content.
Misinformation targeting Black voters has been a major concern in the past several election cycles, including disinformation campaigns launched by foreign actors like Russia and China. The campaign plans to arm itself with tools to fight back against falsehoods that seek to encourage Black voters to sit out in the 2024 elections.
The campaign said another message it wants to get out to Black voters is that the alternative to another four years of the Biden-Harris administration will be detrimental to communities of color.
“The past three years will stand in stark contrast to the extremist MAGA Republicans, whether it’s Donald Trump or whoever else we’re faced with who wants to return us to these failed policies that gut investments to Black communities, that ships more jobs in Black communities overseas,” said Tyler.
“We’re showing up right now and focusing on this administration’s successful efforts to help create good-paying jobs in Black communities, provide more funding for Black businesses, and lower the cost of living for Black families,” added the Biden-Harris campaign official.
The president’s efforts stand in stark contrast to the former president’s desires to roll back our progress with tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy and corporations at the expense of working people.
