Haley Pours Money Into National TV Ads as White House Dreams Dim

(Bloomberg) -- Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign is pouring money into its first national cable television advertising buy even as her candidacy faces a nearly impossible path to beating Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

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Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney said Friday they are planning to spend seven figures, but declined to give a specific amount. She said the ads will run in the lead-up to Super Tuesday on March 5, when more than a dozen states will vote.

The cable TV messaging push is a last-minute effort to energize both voters and donors in what could likely be the final stretch of Haley’s campaign. Trump leads Haley in a RealClearPolitics average of national polls by nearly 58 percentage points.

Investing in national ads, rather than in Super Tuesday states specifically, is a way for Haley to make her case against Trump to a wider audience and establish her brand for future plans if she soon drops out of the race.

The former South Carolina governor has pledged to stay in the race through early March. Her home state is the next to vote this Saturday. She trails Trump by more than 25 percentage points there.

“We know that the road is difficult. We know that the math is challenging, but this has never just been about who can win a Republican primary,” Ankney told reporters in a call. “This battle is about who can win in November, defeat the Democrats and finally get our country back on track.”

Haley’s television spending in South Carolina helped her overtake Trump in the TV ad war. She has dominated the local airwaves for the last month, with her campaign and allied super political action committee combining to spend $11.3 million compared to $844,000 for Trump, according to AdImpact, which tracks political ad spending.

--With assistance from Bill Allison.

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