How Harris and Trump are shifting their TV advertising in sprint to Election Day
CNN
The campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump made strategic adjustments to the content of their TV advertisements between August and September, a CNN analysis of ad tracking data shows, amid a contentious fight to define the transformed race for the White House.
The campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump made strategic adjustments to the content of their TV advertisements between August and September, a CNN analysis of ad tracking data shows, amid a contentious fight to define the transformed race for the White House. Emphasis of key issues, including abortion, immigration and crime, shifted, with the Harris campaign moving away from defensive ads that stressed the vice president’s law enforcement background, and the Trump campaign leaning into economic appeals – the top issue for voters in this election. The ad tracking firm AdImpact catalogs the issues that are referenced in broadcast TV campaign ads and tracks the amount of money behind those spots. Comparing changes over the past two months illustrates how each campaign is tailoring its message, and it shows the share of campaign resources spent highlighting various issues. In August, Harris’ first full month as a candidate since taking over from Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, her campaign spent $24.5 million on ads that referenced crime – nearly half of the roughly $52.4 million spent on broadcast TV ads in total. According to AdImpact data, crime ranked as the top issue in Harris’ ads that month, as her campaign sought to blunt blistering GOP criticism of Harris’ past record as California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney. In September, the Harris campaign’s spending on ads about crime plummeted to just $28,000, less than 1% of its monthly broadcast TV ad spending. At the same time, the Harris campaign put more ad dollars toward discussing abortion, a key issue for many Democratic and independent voters since Roe v. Wade was overturned and severe restrictions on the procedure were enacted in mostly Republican-led states. In August, the Harris campaign spent $7.8 million on broadcast TV ads about abortion, about 15% of its total spending that month. In September, that total rose to $25 million, and the share doubled to 32%, ranking second among the issues referenced in Harris advertising.
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