Club for Growth Takes Aim at Donald Trump in Ad Campaign
The first television attacks on The Donald have arrived.
Club for Growth Action, an anti-tax, free market economic super PAC, announced Tuesday it would put $1 million behind a pair of advertisements in Iowa that target Trump's past statements and brand him as "just another politician."
One spot includes images of Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and employs a clip of Trump declaring, "In many cases, l probably identify more as a Democrat."
A second commercial highlights his past support for eminent domain, "because he can make millions while we lose our property rights."
The multiweek advertising blitz is slated to begin in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa on Thursday.
"Eventually Donald Trump can't hide behind his own record and the things he says," said David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, of which the super PAC is an arm. "Trump still sounds like a Democrat when he echoes [President Barack] Obama's 'tax the rich' mantra."
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Club for Growth took aim at Trump when he announced his campaign in June, dismissing him as an unserious candidate they wouldn't waste their time composing a white paper on.
The group cited a list of past Trump proposals, including one in 1999 that advocated for a one-time 14 percent tax on those with a net worth greater than $10 million. Trump briefly ran as a Reform Party candidate for president in 2000.
As recently as 2011, Trump called for a 20 percent tax on imports and a 25 percent tax on China, positions that the Club strongly opposes.
The announcement comes on the eve of the second GOP presidential primary debate, where Trump expects to be the subject of attacks due to his overwhelming lead in polls.
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"I hear they're all coming after me," Trump remarked Monday night at a rally in Dallas that attracted 15,000 people. "Whatever."
This ad flight also marks a new phase of the campaign in which the number of television commercials is beginning to hasten.
The mammoth super PAC supporting Jeb Bush, Right to Rise, is kickstarting a $24 million advertising campaign in the first three nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The first spot is designed to be an introduction to Bush's record as governor of Florida, something the super PAC believes is unknown to many voters.
But it also may be a response to Bush's sagging performance in polling less than five months before primary voting commences.
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A new CBS/New York Times survey has Bush down to just 6 percent support among Republicans nationally, trailing Trump by 21 points. A CBS/YouGov poll also has Bush down to just 6 percent in New Hampshire, a critically important state for him. There he lags Trump by a yawning 34 points.
The Club campaign targeting Trump will mark the first test of the effectiveness of sustained advertising against the unlikely GOP front-runner. McIntosh said his group is prepared to invest more resources to take The Donald down.
"The Club for Growth is committed to seeing this all the way through," he said. "We'll keep doing it until people realize Donald Trump is not an economic conservative."
David Catanese is senior politics writer for U.S. News & World Report and founder of the blog The Run 2016. You can follow him on Twitter and send him feedback at dcatanese@usnews.com.
