Dollar Rain on the U.S. Elections
A key period of the U.S. elections is about to begin
In the general election season, which occurs every four years with the simultaneous presidential and congressional races, everything changes after August and leading up to Labor Day in the U.S., which is at the beginning of September.
The conventions of both parties conclude, and the financial cycle of the campaigns spins faster with the maximum entry of party funds into the advertising process.
During this period, radio and television ad slots are booked, and with the identification of target media markets in key states, endless money flows to regional media active in these areas.
Gradually, the campaigns prepare for the big debate days, and large and valuable venues for holding rallies are identified in advance.
This year, the story is different. The campaigns of both parties are already engaged in a media and advertising battle.
The intensity of the Biden and Trump competition in key states was such that spending levels in states like Pennsylvania have been breaking records for some time.
With Kamala Harris entering the election, the sensitivity of the advertising competition increased, and this heightened sensitivity is further fueled by heavy public financial support for her. The Harris campaign announced that it received $540 million in donations from the public during the five-week period of her entry into the election, separate from the financial support from wealthy Americans through super PACs, which have a structure independent of the campaign.
In the few days following Harris’s speech at the party convention, $40 million in new donations were given to the campaign by the public, and Harris has broken various records in this regard.
One-third of the donations in the past week were from individuals who had never before contributed to any campaign in this election cycle, and two-thirds of the new donations came from American women.
Harris has clearly taken the lead over her rival in this area, and Trump, for his part, has not come to the field empty-handed. All existing statistics on the spending of the two parties in different states are now outdated and ineffective. Experts in this field are waiting for the finalization of new contracts with media outlets to review the advertising expenditures of the candidates.
Meanwhile, we must wait for the precise announcement of party expenditures in the congressional races, particularly the crucial Senate races. In this area, the competition, like the two-party race for the Senate seat in Ohio, has already broken all records. The management of electoral advertising campaigns involves planning activities in various geographical, ethnic, and racial segments, and the term ‘media market’ is used for each of these segments.
In the current situation, with seven key states in the presidential election race, campaign money will initially flow to Pennsylvania and perhaps, after that, more than anywhere else to North Carolina and then Georgia.
If a special situation arises that encourages Democrats to operate in Florida, the game will be disrupted. This state is as costly on its own as all the other states combined. In northern Florida alone, there are two or three media markets, and on the other hand, Latinos and Jews in this state each require two or three separate types of advertising. In the current situation, with the upcoming debate between the two rivals, everything is in the period of transition from the Democratic convention to Labor Day and then transitioning from the suspension period before the debate. Money is pouring down, and ad slots have been purchased.
The two presidential election rivals have advanced so far that congressional candidates have less space for their own advertising, and some have found no available slots in radio and television advertising. Meanwhile, apart from special programs for social networks, nothing is more valuable than advertising on regional and local radios.
