GEOFF BENNETT: The race for the White House takes money, a lot of it.
Yesterday, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee said they raised more than $65 million in March as they try to catch up to the nearly $100 million cash advantage Biden and the Democrats had a month earlier.
Both candidates are using the campaign money to reach key voting blocs and to push their core messages.
Domenico Montanaro of NPR has been following the money.
And he joins us now.
It's always great to see you.
So, President Biden, the Biden campaign, they have a clear cash advantage over Donald Trump.
How much does that matter in a race like this one, where the candidates are so well-known, they're so well-defined?
And what does it matter seven months ahead of Election Day?
DOMENICO MONTANARO, Political Editor, NPR: Yes, I think it's a very strong argument to say that these guys are so well-defined, people know who they are, they know what their brands are, that maybe all that TV money doesn't really matter as much.
But I would say that this is kind of like a World War I election, where you're spending a lot for a few feet of really important ground.
It's pretty marginal as far as the groups that they need to win.
I mean, Biden, for example, it's very important for him and it's why he's sort of outspending Trump as much as he is right now, because he's behind in the swing states.
We have seen that Biden's campaign and groups supporting him are spending about $13.5 million since Super Tuesday to only about $3 million or so for Trump and his team.
And a lot of that money that Trump is spending right now is to raise money.
Actually, about $2.5 million of that they're using are digital ad pitches from Save America asking people for more money.
So, eventually, the money will be there, but, right now, they're needing to get more of it.
GEOFF BENNETT: That's interesting.
So what groups are the campaigns trying to reach with all of this money?
DOMENICO MONTANARO: Yes, so one of the big things that you need to do if you're going to -- why early advertising can really matter is because you want to win over some groups that you might have vulnerabilities with or you want to try to define your opponent.
And I think that one big thing that the Biden campaign understands is that Trump's been off the airwaves for three years.
And some people might not see him as urgent as a threat for the people who already voted for Biden, for example, in 2020, who then the Biden campaign needs to win back over.
So they're going to run a lot of Trump's words.
But, again, another piece of this is, you're shoring up your own vulnerabilities.
And part of that for Biden is Latino, Black voters, young voters.
We saw in our NPR/"PBS NewsHour"/Marist poll that young voters 18 to 29, 61 percent disapprove of the job that Biden is doing.
He needs them back on board.
And Latinos, 56 percent disapproving, and that's why we're seeing the ads that we're seeing right now from Biden.
Maybe let's take a listen to that.
NARRATOR: For our abuelos.
NARRATOR: Insulin that costs $35.
NARRATOR: Or hundreds.
NARRATOR: That is the difference between Joe Biden.
NARRATOR: And Donald Trump.
NARRATOR: For women, the freedom to control our own bodies, or doctors going to jail for an abortion.
NARRATOR: This is the difference between Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
DOMENICO MONTANARO: Now, Trump taking a very different tack.
Let's listen to what he's doing with an ad that he also ran in 2020 quite a bit.
(MUSIC) GEOFF BENNETT: Definitely a different approach.
DOMENICO MONTANARO: Good luck getting that out of your head in the next couple of days, Geoff.
(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Domenico, so how are the campaigns really using these ads to reinforce their positions on important issues?
DOMENICO MONTANARO: Yes, so a big piece of this obviously is getting your message out.
And one of those big issues, we know, for the Biden campaign is on abortion rights, on women's reproductive rights.
And using Trump's words is one of the ways that they're now going on the airwaves.
And let's listen to that.
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Because, for 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated.
And I did it.
And I'm proud to have done it.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: In 2016, Donald Trump ran to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Now, in 2024, he's running to pass a national ban on a woman's right to choose.
I'm running to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.
DOMENICO MONTANARO: And that ad is running everywhere.
It's going to be across a lot of different states.
One place I'm looking at, curiously, is Florida, whether or not they're going to run that ad there.
They have just put a little bit of money into it there.
But where they're really spending money on this is Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.
Gee, I wonder why.
It's the blue wall.
They're really running to build the blue wall back again.
GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.
Another bit of news, the third-party group No Labels announced today they're not going to field a presidential candidate after spending millions of dollars to find candidates and ultimately get on the ballot.
Tell us more about that.
DOMENICO MONTANARO: Yes, they got on the ballot in 19 states.
They raised millions of dollars, but they couldn't field a candidate.
So they abandoned their effort.
And it really -- it's a lot of money that they wound up having to spend.
I know that the Biden campaign is thrilled about this.
I have already gotten lots of texts and e-mails from interest groups on the left who are fighting against No Labels, because they feel like the path for Donald Trump to the White House is getting a third-party candidate who siphons votes from Biden, because they don't expect that Trump can get above 46, 47 percent, the two percentages that he got in 2016 and 2020.
So having one of these groups out is important for the Biden campaign.
The next target is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and why we have seen ads that are groups on the left that have popped up now to sort of target him.
GEOFF BENNETT: Domenico Montanaro, it's great to have you here.
Thanks so much.
DOMENICO MONTANARO: Oh, thank you, Geoff.
