Democratic and liberal groups are starting the 2020 campaign now, even before there’s a Democratic front-runner, by softening the ground in swing states with ads showing how devastating the Trump presidency has been for the nation.
With a six-figure digital ad buy, super PAC Priorities USA Action is allowing working-class voters to tell their stories directly. One spot features Chuck Jones, former president of an Indianapolis steelworkers union, who talks about Trump’s promise to stop companies from moving jobs overseas, and the reversal. “People clapped. People cried. They wanted something to believe in,” he says into the camera. Then the Carrier plant where they worked and where Trump appeared right after the election, promising to save jobs, reversed course. “I had to tell the people their jobs were going to Mexico. They were devastated. People lost their health care and their retirement,” Jones says. “Working people have got to fight back.” Priorities will be spending $100 million on broadcast and digital ads like this one in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida, helping to pave the way for the eventual Democratic nominee.
American Bridge is going to spending $50 million to expand its opposition research efforts into ads in the same states. For Our Future, the group funded by labor and Tom Steyer, will be spending $80 million on a direct voter contact program in a broader swath of swing states, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s political operation will kick in $115 million during the nominating phase. All to focus on Trump.
It’s a smart tactic, one that Republicans will have a hard time countering in ads. They have a huge field of Democrats to try to pick off, whereas liberal groups have just one target. Trump himself will be continuing his favorite activity (after tweeting) with lots of campaign rallies in these states, but those rallies aren’t likely to be enough to offset the reality of daily life in his economy.