Trump makes first battleground state ad buys

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has a narrow nationwide lead against her Republican rival, Donald Trump, in a four-way match-up that includes third-party candidates, according to a new poll released Thursday.

Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, also met with law enforcement officers Thursday for a discussion in NY about policing and racial tensions.

Trump, who has eschewed ad spending in favor of free media coverage to fuel his outsider campaign, has fallen over the past few weeks in most recent swing state and national polls. Those ads have been airing regularly since mid-June. The first spots will air on Friday. The state is one of four that will see the billionaire’s first general election broadcast TV commercials.

The advertising plans, confirmed by Kantar Media’s political ad tracker, come a day after Trump announced another senior staffing shakeup.

With polls showing the race tightening and both campaigns beefing up their Georgia staff, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will head to Atlanta on August 29 for a high-dollar fundraiser.

By comparison, a conservative nonprofit spent $1.5 million this week on ads praising Republican U.S. Sen.

The campaign hopes the restructuring will help Trump close the gap in the final 12 weeks of the race.

In addition to the outlay of $1.4 million in Florida and $1 million in Pennsylvania, the campaign will buy $831,000 worth of ads in North Carolina and $746,000 in OH, with an additional $1 million in cable buys yet to be publicly designated for a particular state, according to CMAG/Kantar Media. Trump has yet to purchase time in Virginia, though a campaign adviser said earlier this week that he planned to do so. The Clinton offices are spread across the state from Elizabeth City to Asheville, including Cary, Carrboro, Raleigh and two Charlotte offices.

In the end, the two campaigns may now speed the next weeks, trying to make the November election a referendum on their opponent.

N.C. Republican Party executive director Dallas Woodhouse said he’s not concerned by the disparity in the number of campaign offices.

“That is the most direct route to 270”, said Chris Young, RNC field director.

“I don’t care if Donald Duck is running the campaign”, said Henry Barbour, a Republican National committeeman from Mississippi. Only 15% said that Trump would be an “average” president. Although the speech – which he read from a teleprompter – was well received by many Republicans, it was largely overshadowed by news of his campaign restructuring.

“Leaving aside questions of competency, Trump has a CEO, a campaign manager and campaign chairman who says he is chief strategist”, President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, who frequently speaks to Mook, wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “They appreciate he’s not a scripted politician, but there’s a recognition that words do matter”.

Trump was on the ground Thursday in battleground North Carolina, where he stopped by a local gun range before meeting with police officers in Iredell County.