How swing state voters see Kamala Harris portrayed in prime-time TV ads

When voters in battleground states turn on their televisions, they’re likely to see Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned several times during commercial breaks as both campaigns and their allies release a slew of ads for and against the new Democratic presidential nominee .

After a campaign reset that saw President Joe Biden drop out of the 2024 race and Vice President Kamala Harris rise to the top of the ticket, both parties are scrambling to recalibrate their messages, with Democrats working to introduce Harris to voters and Republicans working to understate. and define her as a “soft-on-crime radical who is too dangerous for the White House.”

As of mid-August, campaigns and their allies have already booked $247 million in ad spending this month, which is 19 percent more than they did in August 2020, according to AdImpact. an ad tracking firm.

According to an independent analysis of television commercials conducted by Washington Examiner On Wednesday in local prime-time television markets in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, the majority of ads were pro-Harris from either her campaign or Future Forward PAC.

The pro-Harris blitz

Harris’ campaign has launched a $90 million advertising effort over the next two weeks to launch his candidacy with just 2 1/2 months until Election Day in November. The campaign focuses on the vice president’s personal narrative and her previous career as a prosecutor, and presents a contrast to former President Donald Trump’s “dangerous, extreme agenda,” according to her team.

The vice president is expected to accept his party’s nomination in less than a week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, giving him a shorter window than usual to take control of the narrative. Her campaign ads focus on her biography and portray her as someone who fought for ordinary people.

The most common ad running in each market is a 30-second spot titled “Knows,” which begins with images of Harris in various childhood photos and then transitions to images of Harris interacting with voters.

“She grew up in a middle-class home. She was the daughter of a working mother. And he worked at McDonald’s while he got his degree,” says a narrator in the ad. “Kamala Harris knows what it’s like to be middle class. That’s why she’s determined to lower health care costs and make housing more affordable.”

The ad then pivots to images of Trump and his Mar-a-Lago resort. “Donald Trump has no plan to help the middle class — just more tax cuts for billionaires,” the narrator continues. “Being president is about who you fight for, and she fights for people like you.”

Another ad titled “Tougher” from the Harris campaign highlights her background as a prosecutor and her time as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general.

“As vice president, he sponsored the toughest border control bill in decades,” a narrator states in the video. “And as president, he will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. Fixing the border is difficult. So does Kamala Harris.”

The anti-Harris message

Former President Donald Trump and super PACs aligned with him seek to exploit Harris’ California roots and brand her as a “liberal” and “soft on crime radical.” A new ad from MAGA Inc. considers Harris “dangerously liberal” and the architect of “the worst border crisis in American history.”

Make America Great Again Inc., aligned with the former president’s campaign, said it would spend $100 million on ads between now and Labor Day. According to a new memo from the group, there is now a $70 million wave of TV and digital ads in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina, in addition to expanding current campaigns in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.

The group’s recent ads label Harris “dangerously liberal” and highlight her record on immigration and her time as San Francisco’s district attorney. Wednesday’s most-streamed ad from the group begins with a clip of Harris saying, “I’m radical; I think we have to go radical.”

“Radical Kamala raised money for a fund that saved violent criminals, that freed murderers and rapists. They even saved a domestic abuser. Days later, he killed a man,” says a narrator during the 30-second slot.

The ad also features previous comments from Harris in which she discusses defunding the police.

“The idea that more police means more safety is just wrong,” she says. “We need to have this conversation about redirecting resources.”

The ad closes with a video of Harris with the words “dangerously liberal” on the screen. MAGA Inc. has already run $111.6 million in pro-Trump advertising from the start of 2023 through Monday, including digital ads. After Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee after Super Tuesday in March, MAGA Inc. ran $71.2 million worth of ads.

Trump and his campaign have focused ads on immigration, casting Harris as the Biden administration’s “border czar.” She was tasked by Biden to address the causes of border migration.

A Trump campaign ad airing in battleground states cites examples of violent criminals allegedly “freed” by Harris during her time as San Francisco’s district attorney.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“Who freed every single one of them — liberal prosecutor Kamala Harris,” says the narrator in the ad. “The victim’s blood is on his hands.”

Preserve America, a pro-Trump super PAC, is also running three ads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin touting Harris for her work leading the Biden administration’s response to the southern border crisis.