Chauncey McLeanPresident of Future forwarda super political action committee, or Super PACwho has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to support Harris in the November 5 election. choiceHe spoke Monday at an event hosted by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.
“Our numbers are much less optimistic than what you see publicly,” said McLean, who rarely speaks publicly.
Harris arrives at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago riding a wave of public polls showing she has already reshaped a race that was heavily in the Republican Party’s favor. Donald Trump in the last weeks of the president Joe BidenHarris is leading in a compilation of national polls by FiveThirtyEight with 46.6% to Republican Donald Trump’s 43.8%, and has taken the lead in several public polls in battleground states.
Future Forward has built a massive polling operation that created and tested about 500 digital and TV ads for Biden and about 200 for Harris. They have spoken to about 375,000 Americans in the weeks since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee on July 22.
McLean said the group has at least $250 million left to spend, and is planning an advertising spree — from digital to television — between Labor Day on Sept. 2 and Election Day on Nov. 5. Super PACs can raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited amounts to openly advocate for or against political candidates. McLean said most of Harris’s momentum in the immediate aftermath of Biden’s exit came from young voters of color, and that has opened up Sunbelt states like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina — states that Democrats had largely written off in the final days of Biden’s campaign.
“It has multiple paths,” with seven states in play, a complete shift from when Biden was on the ticket, he said. The other states include Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
McLean said Pennsylvania remains the most important state in the group’s analysis and called the race a “coin toss” based on polls. He says Harris must win one of three states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina or Georgia — to win the White House.
He cautioned that Harris has yet to fully rebuild the Biden coalition of Black, Hispanic and young voters that carried him to the White House in 2020.
McLean said polls show the public wants more detailed policy positions from Harris.
She says they don’t want “white papers,” but they don’t want platitudes either. She says they need more concrete examples of how she can differentiate herself from Biden and make their lives easier financially. Trump allies have called on Harris to do the same in recent days, hoping to corner her on controversial issues.
The race is closer than ever, McLean said.
“We have everything under control, in practically all areas,” he said.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.