Clinton to spend $4M on Iowa, NH ads

Hillary Clinton is spending $4 million for advertisements in Iowa and New Hampshire through October, aides told CNN.

Of that, $2.6 million will be devoted to TV markets in Boston; Manchester, N.H.; and Burlington, Vt., according to CNN. Those areas give Clinton a dual-pronged strategy of reaching New Hampshire primary voters as well as running ads in the hometown of her main primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

{mosads}The campaign will also spend $1.5 in the Iowa markets of Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.  It plans to air one spot that centers on the influence of Clinton’s mother and another on her career accomplishments, the network reported.

The investment in the first two presidential nominating states comes as Vice President Biden continues to mull a 2016 bid. He candidly addressed the rumors during a speech in Atlanta Thursday, where he said that his family would be a key factor in his decision.

And with Biden looming, Clinton is sliding in polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Most recent polls still show her with a double-digit lead in the Hawkeye State, registering a 34-point in Suffolk University’s poll. But a Des Moines Register poll found her just 7 points ahead of Sanders, and her lead has dropped since posting leads well above 40 points back in the spring.

The race is even narrower in the Granite State, where two of the most recent polls had Sanders on top for the first time. 

Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Short needled Clinton for the ad buy as “hitting the panic button over her growing email scandal,” noting that she’s slipped in the polls despite previous ad campaigns.