Kirsten Gillibrand to Make $1 Million Ad Buy: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Kirsten Gillibrand is launching more than $1 million worth of television and digital advertisements as she tries to jump-start a presidential campaign that’s gained little traction in the polls.

The 30-second spot will run on television in Iowa and New Hampshire, sites of the first two presidential nominating contests, the campaign said, as well as online. So far, she’s booked $42,150 in air time, all in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, according to Advertising Analytics LLC, which tracks political advertising spending. It’s the New York senator’s first TV buy of the election, and one the campaign says will help her qualify for the next round of debates.

Gillibrand has 100,000 unique donors and reached 2% in one national poll, the campaign said. She’ll need 30,000 more contributors and three more national polls with at least the same level of support by Aug. 28 to qualify for the Houston debates, scheduled for Sept. 12-13.

Biden Tries a Do-Over on His ‘Poor Kids’ Remark (2:07 P.M.)

Joe Biden tried to clean up his remarks about race and education Friday, shrugging off suggestions that a long history of gaffes might hurt his chances to beat President Donald Trump.
“We have to make sure every child -- every child -- gets a great education regardless, regardless of their race,” Biden told supporters at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Iowa. “Look, whether their parents’ income, ZIP code, disability — it shouldn’t be a determining factor. We have to eliminate the funding gap that exists between majority white and non-white districts, between majority wealthy and not-wealthy districts. We have to eliminate those.”

On Thursday, he told a group of mostly Asian and Hispanic voters that “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” The Trump campaign immediately seized on that statement as “part of a pattern” of Biden suggesting minority children are harder to teach.

While mingling with supporters Friday, a reporter asked Biden what he has to say to critics who say his gaffes hurt his electability.

“Well that will be determined pretty soon, won’t it?” Biden said. -- Emma Kinery

Trump Headed to Chemical Plant in Pennsylvania (11:40 A.M.)

President Donald Trump is headed to Pennsylvania’s Rust Belt, where he is expected to talk about economic revitalization in the key swing state.

Trump will appear Tuesday at a $6 billion chemical production facility nearing completion in Monaca, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The facility, owned by a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, will use natural gas liquids to annually produce 1.6 million tons of ethylene, which is used in the production of plastics and other products.

The visit comes as the Trump administration has proposed turning the natural gas-rich Appalachian region into a hub for petrochemical refining as a way to help local workers hurt by a downturn in coal mining. Pennsylvania is one of the must-win states for Democrats who hope to unseat Trump in 2020. -- Ari Natter

Yang Is Ninth Democrat to Qualify for Debates (10:26 A.M.)

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang has become the ninth Democrat to qualify for the next round of presidential primary debates, with several other prominent candidates still on the outside looking in.

The Democratic National Committee has increased the minimum requirements to be eligible for the debates: A candidate must have both 130,000 individual donors -- with at least 400 from 20 different states -- and at least 2% support in four approved polls. For the first two rounds of debates, each of which featured 20 candidates, the requirement was either 65,000 donors or 2% support in three polls.

Next closest to qualifying are Julian Castro and Tulsi Gabbard. Each has met the donor requirement; Castro has at least 2% support in three polls, and Gabbard has one.

Also on the radar is billionaire Tom Steyer, who announced his campaign in July and is seeking to make his first debate appearance. He meets the threshold in three of the four qualifying polls, but has said in fundraising emails that he expects to reach the donor goal next week.

Kirsten Gillibrand and John Hickenlooper also have one qualifying poll, but don’t meet the donor requirement.

Campaigns don’t disclose the names of contributors who give less than $200, and many campaigns are asking for as little as $1 to meet the threshold. Fundraising emails sometimes give a clue -- Colorado Senator Michael Bennet says he’s still short of the number, and Gillibrand’s campaign told supporters she needs 30,000 more donors.

The next round of debates is Sept. 12-13 in Houston. The deadline to qualify is Aug. 28. -- Gregory Korte and Bill Allison

Corn Kernels Say It’ll Be Joe Biden Vs. Donald Trump (5:30 A.M.)

It’ll be Joe Biden versus Donald Trump in November 2020, if one is to believe the corn kernels.

By mid-afternoon Thursday, more than 2,000 Iowans had voted in the State Fair’s “Cast Your Kernel” survey by dropping corn kernels into glass jars labeled with the names of candidates.

When the poll closed for the day at 9 p.m., Democrats and Republicans were tied 50% to 50%. Among Democrats, Biden was the front-runner with 33% of the vote, followed by South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 14% and Senator Elizabeth Warren at 12%. Trump held a hefty lead over opponent Bill Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, with 97% of the Republican vote.

WHO TV, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, has been doing the corn kernel poll at every Iowa State Fair for nearly 20 years. The survey tends to track with the state’s actual voting tends. -- Emma Kinery

Coming Up This Week

The major Democratic presidential candidates gather at the Iowa Wing Ding on Friday, a major Democratic fund-raiser to speak and glad-hand with donors and other voters.

--With assistance from Gregory Korte, Bill Allison, Ari Natter and Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Allison in Washington at ballison14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny

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