Donald Trump has spent barely any money on his frontrunner campaign, but that’s about to change, in a huge way.
It’s hard these days to turn on the TV news and not see a story about Donald Trump. The billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star knows how to get attention, and now he’s about to get a lot more.
Trump is preparing to spend between $2 million and up to $10 million on TV ads in these weeks before the Iowa caucuses. These will be the first TV ads Trump has run.
Fox News media analyst Howard Kurtz calls it a “big TV ad blitz that could change [the] campaign landscape.”
“Sources in the Trump camp say they will soon launch a major ad blitz that could cost at least $2 million a week, and possibly several times that,” Kurtz says, adding Trump “perhaps” could spend “as much as $100 million for advertising overall.”
The initial wave of ads will focus on Trump’s vision and his stance on key issues—no bio spots necessary for the celebrity candidate—but that could change if any GOP rivals target him with negative commercials. “If you attack Trump, he will attack you 10 times as hard,†an adviser says. “We will not allow any attack to go unanswered.â€
Trump, not that many have noticed, and unlike his Democratic opponents, has few actual policy positions. His campaign website lists just five:Â
- U.S.-China Trade Reform
- Veterans Administration Reforms
- Tax Reform
- Second Amendment Rights
- Immigration Reform
Given Trump’s performance at his recent rallies, it’s unlikely Trump will use the ads to unveil any serous policy positions, and all but entirely impossible that he will use paid airtime to explain how he will achieve the few goals he has set, like having Mexico pay for a wall, or keeping all Muslims from entering the U.S., or even, “making America great again.”
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Image by Michael Vadon via Flickr and a CC license
Hat tip: Talking Points Memo
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