President Joe Biden visited Pennsylvania on Friday to kick off a tour of battleground states and his reelection staff will spend $30 million on an advert purchase as he strikes rapidly into the U.S. general election campaign after his feisty State of the Union speech.

Marketing campaign officers who briefed reporters stated Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in March will rally Democrats in lots of the states the place the Nov. 5 election towards Republican opponent Donald Trump is prone to be determined.

After Pennsylvania on Friday, Biden will go to Georgia on Saturday, New Hampshire on Monday, Wisconsin on Wednesday and Michigan on Thursday. Harris is visiting Arizona on Friday and Nevada on Saturday.

An estimated 32.2 million folks watched Biden’s State of the Union speech, in keeping with Nielsen rankings from 14 tv networks. The viewers rose 18% from Biden’s handle final 12 months, which introduced in 27.3 million viewers, Nielsen stated.

Tv audiences for dwell occasions have fallen sharply as audiences have gravitated to on-demand streaming companies. The TV rankings don’t seize all of the viewership on streaming companies or social media.

Biden marketing campaign officers stated they anticipate a particularly shut race towards Trump with opinion polls exhibiting a neck-and-neck race for the 270 electoral votes crucial for victory.

“We firmly consider that this race goes to be gained on the bottom throughout key states that afford a number of pathways to 270, and all the things we’re doing this month to kick off the overall election is grounded in that premise,” stated Biden marketing campaign supervisor Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

Cupboard officers and different prime aides are also fanning out to make official stops in a wide range of states like Ohio and Florida to make the case for the Biden agenda.

Polls present Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, closely matched, with most voters unenthusiastic in regards to the rematch after Biden defeated Trump 4 years in the past.

Deputy marketing campaign supervisor Rob Flaherty stated the $30 million advert purchase over the subsequent six weeks is greater than the Biden marketing campaign spent in all of 2023. He stated Biden’s State of the Union handle on Thursday night time triggered the largest day of fundraising but for the incumbent Democrat. No determine was offered.

As of final month, the marketing campaign had raised greater than $42 million in January and had $130 million cash on hand for the overall election battle.

The $30 million advert purchase can be geared toward voters throughout a wide selection of digital platforms, with some geared toward key Democratic constituencies, together with Hispanics, African Individuals and Asian Individuals, Flaherty stated.

Adverts will run as properly on fashionable channels Comedy Central and ESPN.

On Friday Biden visited a Philadelphia suburban county that has undergone a metamorphosis throughout the Trump period.

In 2015, Democrats held a slim 6,665-voter registration benefit over Republicans. Right this moment, that margin has swelled to 57,139, in keeping with the newest state voting registration information.

For Biden to win the crucial state, he must run up the profitable margins in Philadelphia and the suburbs ringing the town like these in Delaware County.