Club for Growth rolls out ad blitz hitting Biden

The conservative Club for Growth announced Thursday it is rolling out a $5 million ad blitz hammering former Vice President Joe Biden as GOP outside groups work to close the spending gap with their Democratic counterparts. 

The anti-tax group said its campaign will focus on Biden’s stance on school choice and will air starting Monday in the swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all of which President Trump won in 2016 but are among the most competitive electoral contests this cycle.

The group’s new ad bashes Biden for his opposition to parental choice grants, which would provide parents with funds to offer their children alternate education opportunities amid the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent public school closures. 

“When a student falls behind, a good teacher helps them catch up. A bad president would tie their hands, like Joe Biden would. Even with hundreds of public schools closed indefinitely, Biden opposes emergency parental choice grants, preventing parents from choosing options like private tutoring or charter schools if their public school is closed,” a narrator says. “A lost year is unacceptable, but four under Biden, that’s a lost generation.” 

Club for Growth, which was vocal in its opposition to Trump in 2016 but has since turned into a key outside ally, has been an advocate for increased schooling options as the coronavirus pandemic forces public schools to make the tough choice of reopening their doors or remaining closed.

When reached for comment, the Biden campaign pointed to past remarks from spokesperson Andrew Bates saying, “Donald Trump’s disastrous mismanagement of the coronavirus response is the top roadblock stopping schools from re-opening…and just like with every other dimension of this crisis, Joe Biden has been leading while Donald Trump has been failing.”

The ad blitz comes as Democrats look to play offense on the issue of school reopenings, citing the contrast between the White House’s insistence that they reopen and polls showing parents and teachers alike are concerned about the health risks surrounding in-person instruction this fall. 

Pro-Biden groups have swamped GOP outside groups on the airwaves, outspending Republican groups by an more than 2 to 1 margin, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics and reported by Politico, which first reported on Club for Growth’s ad.

Club for Growth has been among the more prominent conservative groups spending in the 2020 cycle, flexing its financial muscle in down-ballot races throughout the country and outspending most other GOP outside organization.