MUST READ: Pro-Biden groups to spend $100 million on August ad blitz

This month, progressive groups will devote $100 million to promoting the passage of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Among these groups, Climate Power will spend $10 million on television, digital, and print ads during August, coming on top of $10 million in paid media spending during the month of July. In total, the climate movement will host more than 500 events to mobilize more than a million people in support of bold action on climate that slashes pollution, moves us toward 100% clean electricity, and creates millions of jobs. 

Read the article here

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Associated Press’ Jonathan Lemire published an article on the progressive push to ensure Congress passes both a bipartisan infrastructure deal and a reconciliation bill that encompasses the rest of the Build Back Better agenda, including investments in climate, the care economy, immigration, and other key priorities. Together, a variety of progressive groups will host more than 1,000 events and actions in August to amplify the public’s demands to build back better. 

Key sections below: 

An array of progressive and pro-White House groups plans to spend nearly $100 million to promote President Joe Biden’s agenda over the next month to pressure Congress while lawmakers are on their August recess.

The push being announced Monday, coupled with a wave of travel by the president’s top surrogates, is meant to promote and secure passage of Biden’s two-track infrastructure plan: a bipartisan package focused on highways, transit and broadband, and a Democrats-only budget reconciliation bill for child care and what the White House calls human infrastructure. […]

An outside coalition of progressive organizations launched a war room and is planning to host over 1,000 events and actions over the next six weeks, The Associated Press learned. The goal, officials said, was to bombard the home districts of members of Congress with ads — both televised and digital — to keep the pressure on to follow through on their votes as well as to underscore much of the agenda’s popularity with the public.

The Senate voted to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill last week, giving Biden a hard-fought legislative victory that, at least for now, seemed to justify his commitment to a bipartisan approach that some in his own party doubted. Both bills were expected to face debate and further votes in the weeks ahead.

“Progressive groups are going on the offense as we lead into August recess,” said Danielle Melfi, executive director of Build Back Together, an outside group supportive of the president. “We know there is a groundswell of support and we want to show members that while they are back home in their districts.”

Traditionally, August is the slowest month of the year in Washington, in part because Congress leaves town, so the White House aims to fill that vacuum with a blitz of events meant to tout Biden’s first six months in office while also promising to take on rising fears of long-term inflation as well as a surge in coronavirus infections, predominantly among the unvaccinated, due to the highly contagious delta variant.