Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential campaign on Tuesday made an extraordinarily emotional appeal for his candidacy and his health care proposal through a new ad that highlights his struggles with grief and family loss.
In the 60-second television spot, called “Personal,” which is airing in Iowa, Mr. Biden relays the stories of his family tragedies that he often shares on the campaign trail. While many voters have pointed to the political calculus about electability in explaining their early support for the former vice president, others have cited what they see as his ability to empathize after facing so much personal adversity, and the ad reflects that dynamic.
The spot begins by noting the loss of Mr. Biden’s first wife and a baby daughter in a car crash. His two young sons survived the accident, and images of them in the hospital, where Mr. Biden was sworn into the Senate, are displayed across the screen.
“I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if we didn’t have the health care they needed immediately,” Mr. Biden, a former Delaware senator, says in the spot.
The ad also describes his son Beau Biden’s battle with brain cancer, and flashes an image of a struggling Mr. Biden. Beau Biden died in 2015.
The spot goes on to obliquely make an argument Mr. Biden often advances more directly on the campaign trail: that his Democratic opponents who support “Medicare for all,” a single-payer health care system, are by default supporting the replacement of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Mr. Biden’s opponents say their goal is to further expand robust health care coverage.
As he often does, Mr. Biden highlights his relationship with former President Barack Obama to argue for expanding on the current health care law rather than pursuing a more sweeping measure.
“Health care is personal to me,” Mr. Biden says. “Obamacare is personal to me. When I see the president try to tear it down and others propose to replace it and start over, that’s personal to me too. We’ve got to build on what we did because every American deserves affordable health care.”
The spot is part of what the campaign calls a “high six-figure” ad buy in Iowa.
Last week, Mr. Biden released the first television ad of his campaign, called “Bones.” It highlighted his standing against President Trump in early polls and sought to paint Mr. Biden as best positioned to beat him in a high-stakes moment for the country, even as he has seen his lead over his rivals slip in some polls.