Because that strategy has worked so spectacularly well for Eric Swalwell (remember him?) and Robert Francis O’Rourke.
The effort, details of which were shared with BuzzFeed News, is part of the Democratic presidential candidate’s $4 million advertising plan for Iowa. The ads, according to the Biden campaign, will narrowly target potential caucus-goers who might be moved by gun safety messaging, including teachers, parents of school-aged children, first responders, and those who follow gun control groups such as Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety. Spots will be seen on Hulu, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Biden allies see advantages in calling attention to his gun control record at a time when the issue has receded from national headlines. As a senator, he supported pivotal laws such as the Brady Bill, which instituted a five-day waiting period for gun purchases, and the assault weapons ban. As vice president, Biden led a task force that recommended 23 executive actions after the 2011 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Though gun violence remains an epidemic — several high-profile mass shootings commanded the attention of presidential candidates last summer — his admirers note that it’s a policy area where Biden has been consistently progressive.
“He’s got a real credible case to be made that he’s the candidate in this race that has the record of fighting the NRA and winning,” said Peter Ambler, executive director of the gun safety advocacy group launched by Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona lawmaker severely injured in a 2011 mass shooting. The organization has not yet endorsed a 2020 candidate.
– Henry J. Gomez in Joe Biden’s New Plan To Win Iowa Voters: Gun Control
