Andrew Yang: ‘I’m Proud Of What We’ve Accomplished, But I’m Here To Win’
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently appeared on the Nerds for Yang podcast and spoke about everything from how he interprets the polls and his television advertising strategy. The outsider candidate also touched on the progress of the campaign thus far and how he is approaching the coming months leading up to Super Tuesday.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, but I’m here to win,” he said. “And we have to put everything in place to win. Now, I’ve sat with a team, and we have a path to victory that I think is 100 percent realistic. But if the election were held today, we would not be there.”
Yang was also pressed on whether he believes the traditional prime time television and media are necessary to reach older people and those not active on Twitter and YouTube
“We have to reach people where they are. You can’t try and invent the world as you think it should be.”
Yang’s campaign recently put $1 million into its first television ad in Iowa, which comes in the wake of the recently announced six-figure digital advertising purchase in four early voting states — these also include New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. While the television ad focuses on Yang’s experience as a first-generation American, the clip also features his wife, Evelyn, and explores the need for health care expansion, The Hill reports.
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur addressed ‘”low information voters” that get most of their information from televisions. He explained that such advertising is effective at the margins, something observable in the campaigns of candidates like Tom Steyer — the billionaire who was able to qualify for the October debate largely by pumping money into television ads.
“You can outsmart certain things, but there are certain things you just have to freakin’ shrug and brute force.”
Yang’s following began to surge after his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. Since then, he has grown a strong base of grassroots support that appears to have been the primary driving force behind his success. After two strong debate performances and a $10 million fundraising haul — which were not mentioned by CNN — Yang’s campaign is looking to continue gaining momentum to “move the needle.”
Yang is currently tied for seventh in the polls with Cory Booker. Per a Google Docs spreadsheet by Politico’s Zach Montellaro, Yang has met the donor requirements for the December debate and needs 4 percent or higher in two more Democratic National Committee-approved polls or 6 percent in two single-state polls in the early states to qualify.
