Biden takes on big issues in new ads

Joe Biden is taking on the most critical issues of the election — the coronavirus, civil unrest and racial injustice — as part of a new series of ads going on the air in Florida.

Three started running on Thursday and a fourth begins Friday.

Two of the ads offer Biden’s views on health care, with one reminding voters about Biden’s background — or to introduce him to those who don’t know much about him — and the personal tragedies he’s experienced.

Biden has run an aggressive schedule of campaign ads during the past three months. Data from the ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics shows Biden has had advertising on the air in all 10 of the state’s media markets, including the expensive Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.

The new ads also will appear statewide, the campaign said. The ads aim both at what the campaign sees as President Donald Trump’s biggest vulnerabilities, including his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and seek to counter the image of Biden that the president and his supporters have attempted to paint for voters as a someone who’s unconcerned about looting and violence and doesn’t care about average Americans.

The two brand new ads, “Defend” and “Personal,” are decidedly un-dramatic. The 60-second ads began Thursday.

“Defend” features video of Biden talking about the coronavirus during his convention speech. It has no flashy graphics or music, just the former vice president speaking on video.

“Personal” is a sepia-toned slide show of still photographs, illustrating the most tragic moments of his life — the deaths of his first wife and infant daughter in a car accident and the death of his adult son Beau from cancer — and side-by-side with former President Barack Obama. It’s narrated by Biden.

“The fact of the matter is, health care is personal to me. Obamacare is personal to me. When I see the president of the United States try to eliminate this health care — in the middle of a public health crisis — that’s personal to me, too,” he says.