The super PAC is aiming to dampen the support of veterans for Donald Trump, who lost ground with them in 2020.
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The main super PAC supporting President Biden has a $250 million ad blitz planned, while other Democratic groups are expecting to spend tens of millions more.
VoteVets, the liberal political action committee known for supporting veterans running for office, will spend $45 million to back President Biden and Democratic candidates for the House and Senate, Jon Soltz, the group’s co-founder and chairman, said.
VoteVets is the latest liberal organization to announce its 2024 plans to back Mr. Biden and other Democratic candidates. Future Forward, the main Democratic super PAC supporting Mr. Biden’s bid, has a $250 million ad blitz planned. Last month the liberal activist group MoveOn revealed its $32 million program.
The centerpiece of the VoteVets effort is a $15 million project aimed at veterans and active-duty military families in the presidential battleground states.
The man Mr. Biden beat in 2020 and is likely to face in a rematch this fall, former President Donald J. Trump, slipped among veterans during his re-election campaign. In 2020, Mr. Trump performed a net 14 points worse among veterans and military families than he did in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, according to a Pew Research study released in 2021. Mr. Trump still carried veterans, but his erosion of support followed an array of evidence that he had been disrespectful to military officials and families.
“While all these other groups focus on base turnout, somebody has to be able to focus on cutting losses with some of these core groups,” Mr. Soltz said in an interview. “Elections aren’t just won by running up the score, it’s by cutting losses, and Biden’s success largely came by cutting losses in this community.”
VoteVets, which Mr. Soltz founded in 2006 in opposition to the Iraq war, has grown into one of the Democratic Party’s leading benefactors. Mr. Soltz remained a leading voice for ending the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
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Source: nytimes.com
