Negative, defensive and dark: the latest ads from the Iowa campaign
Subzero temperatures and swirling snow showers have hampered campaign events in Iowa this weekend, but Iowans are getting plenty of it exposure to the Republican presidential candidates through a last-minute blitz of advertising before Monday's caucuses.
The candidates' parting messages – both in their ads and their speeches – were noticeably negative, defensive and dark.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are locked in a battle for second place in Iowa, and their camps have unleashed new attacks on each other in the waning days of the race here. In a dynamic that mirrors the race at large, their ads have dealt only glancing blows to former President Donald J. Trump, while Trump's latest ad looks past his top rivals and seeks to undermine President Biden.
A super PAC supporting Ms. Haley took out a new ad on television stations on Friday depicts Mr. DeSantis as a “suck up” for Mr. Trump – featuring old photos of them together, along with clips from a 2018 DeSantis campaign ad in which Mr. DeSantis recites Mr. Trump's slogans to his children. In the new ad, an invisible crowd chants, “Who's your daddy?”
A advertisement from a super PAC supporting Mr. DeSantis, addresses comments Ms. Haley made this month to a crowd in New Hampshire — where she has received strong support — and said voters there would “correct” the results in Iowa during their primaries on January 23.
“Nikki doesn't respect you,” the ad says. “She thinks New England knows best.” (A advertisement Mr. DeSantis' campaign also used her comments in New Hampshire in an attempt to undermine her before voters in Iowa.)
In another ad, the super PAC calls her “Tricky Nikki Haley” and accuses her of supporting “the radical trans agenda.” The ad adds, rather tepidly: “Mr. Trump is no better.”
There's another super PAC running for Mr. DeSantis — it's backed by $33.2 million in advertising support in Iowa an advertisement saying that “the left is destroying our country,” and that Mr. DeSantis is the only leader who “fought them and won.”
The only candidate with more television advertising dollars to help her is Ms. Haley, with $35.5 million in Iowa alone, according to an analysis by AdImpact, a media-tracking company. This is especially notable when you consider that the main super PAC backing her didn't start advertising in Iowa until August 1, and her campaign didn't start spending on TV ads in Iowa until November.
The last major campaign of her campaign advertisement in Iowa is one of the few generally positive messages on the air today, urging viewers to “imagine a president with courage and grace, a different style, not a name from the past,” over stirring music .
A final ad from Mr. Trump's campaign in Iowa is focused about attacking President Biden over the economy, a message that seems to resonate with many of his supporters in Iowa. However, he has spent time and money attacking Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis — also in one advertisement which was released just last week and consists almost entirely of old clips of Mr. DeSantis praising him.
Iowa television stations have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the state's flood of spending in recent months. Advertising rates – the cost to buy airtime on television – have increased as the caucuses draw closer.
KCCI, the CBS affiliate station in Des Moines, has booked $11.7 million in ad time since January 2023, according to AdImpact. KWWL, the NBC affiliate in eastern Iowa, booked $9.6 million; KTIV, the NBC affiliate in western Iowa, booked $7.1 million.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the wealthy entrepreneur ranked fourth in the polls, has campaigned aggressively in Iowa, boosted by $4 million in ads here. In late December, he said he would no longer run television ads, instead relying on digital and radio spots. A last advertisement which aired this week, includes an endorsement from Steve King, the former U.S. representative from Iowa who became a Republican Party pariah because of his history of racist comments.
The campaign for a long-awaited candidate, Ryan Binkley, has made a final televised plea to voters to show footage of a speech in which Mr Binkley, a businessman and preacher, says: “We started in 15th place. We've gotten past the vice president, a governor, a few billionaires, a senator, a congressman, a mayor of a major city—the field is narrowing.”
“I'm still here, Iowa,” he shouts. “I'm still here!”