Mike Bloomberg commits $4 million to Biden ground game in Florida

[RandySF]

Joe Biden’s ground game in Florida is getting a jolt from billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg told the Miami Herald Monday that he’s giving $4 million to get-out-the-vote efforts on behalf of the Democratic presidential nominee in the nation’s largest swing state. With the money, grassroots organizations held back for months by the coronavirus pandemic plan to promote Biden by talking face-to-face with voters in minority and “underrepresented” communities.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended this election season and changed the way campaigns are run in many ways — but one thing that remains unchanged is the importance of a strong ground game in engaging voters, informing them of what’s at stake in this election, and ensuring they know how to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” Bloomberg said in a statement to the Herald. “And that’s especially true of Florida, where mail-in ballots have already been sent out and early voting begins in just three weeks.”

Bloomberg’s spending on neighborhood canvassing is only one piece of a $100 million commitment to beat President Donald Trump in Florida, a state he must win to be reelected. About half that money has been put into TV ads largely intended to reach Black and Hispanic voters.

But with polls suggesting the race in Florida is tight while 5 million mail ballots go out, progressive groups and Florida strategists believe the extended absence of a Biden ground game has left a weak spot in his campaign and could burn him in a state where elections can be won by a few hundred votes. Trump’s campaign returned to in-person campaigning months ago, as the president continued to dismiss the severity of the pandemic.



https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article246051305.html#storylink=cpy