9/5/20
Joe Biden's campaign is looking to get a boost in the final sprint to Election Day by building support among key demographics that powered President Trump's 2016 upset victory. In a press call Friday, the campaign said it was confident it could post strong showings with disaffected voters, independents, suburbanites and seniors, four groups that swung for Trump over Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election. The campaign shared data showing the former vice president ahead by 34 points among voters who have unfavorable views of both candidates, 11 points among independents, 13 points among suburban voters and 17 points among seniors. "What we believe is that we have the resources and the strategy ... to reach these core coalition audiences directly," said Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon. The Biden campaign cast the four demographics as key parts of the "Biden Coalition" that will build on support from already safe Democratic groups, including Hispanics, Blacks, younger voters and women. "Underneath the hood as we look as we look at these core groups, we're not taking any vote for granted, we know we have work to do both on the persuasion and mobilization side, and we are making sure each audience has a customized track of engagement from the campaign," O'Malley Dillon said.
Among the efforts the campaign underscored are recent ads highlighting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on seniors and placing reservations on Spanish-language networks and BET - tactics that will only be boosted by the campaign's record-breaking $365 million August fundraising haul. New polls released since the conclusion of last week's Republican National Convention shows neither Biden nor Trump emerging with a bounce coming out of the confabs. Biden maintains a wide national lead, but margins have appeared to narrow in a number of battleground states. But Donilon said he believed Biden's leads would not be susceptible to large swings given the small number of undecided voters remaining, the lack of a high-profile third party contender and Trump's approval rating, which has stubbornly remained in the low to mid-40s. "We've had a pretty strong standing in the battleground states," said Donilon. "We continue to run strong in a lot of states, because what it speaks to [is] what we believe are multiple paths to victory. We think there are a lot of avenues for us."
