Clinton pauses ads in Virginia in sign of confidence
By Steven Shepard
08/04/16 03:56 PM EDT
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has left Virginia off its upcoming battleground-state television ad buy beginning next week — the second state to be dropped in recent weeks as Clinton holds a significant lead over Donald Trump nationally and in key states.
The campaign’s new television ad buy, which begins next Tuesday, consists of Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The reservations, which could be amended easily in the future, run through Labor Day.
The decision reflects increasing confidence among Democrats that Clinton will keep Virginia, a state expected to be bitterly contested, in the blue column this fall. The pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA is scaling back its Virginia ad campaign later this month, as well.
It comes just two weeks after Colorado fell off the list of states comprising Clinton’s ad reservations — and Colorado isn’t part of the new flight, either. Priorities USA recently scrapped its Colorado ads, too.
POLITICO’s Battleground State polling average gives Clinton a 5.2-point lead in Virginia – with the two newest public surveys, conducted last month, before Clinton chose Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate, showing her with leads of 7 and 9 points over Trump.
A Clinton campaign official, speaking on background to discuss campaign strategy, stressed that the campaign could return to the airwaves in both Virginia and Colorado at any moment. And the official added that voters in those two states may still see some Clinton spots on television: The campaign is advertising across the country on cable and on NBC’s Olympics telecasts over the next two weeks.
Trump’s campaign has yet to begin a TV-ad campaign in the general election, despite a concerted effort to close the gap with Clinton in fundraising.
“With ads still on the air and organizers and volunteers in every corner of the commonwealth, the campaign remains committed to fighting hard until Election Day to win every last vote in battleground Virginia,” the official said, referencing the national campaigns on cable and Olympic programming.
Republicans carried Virginia in 10 consecutive presidential elections, starting in 1968 — before Barack Obama broke that streak in 2008 and held its 13 electoral votes in 2012.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/swing-states-2016-election/2016/08/clinton-virginia-ads-battleground-states-226681
