Top Democratic super PAC launches online barrage against Trump on economy
A Democratic super PAC is starting to spend at least $1 million a month online attacking President Donald Trump’s record on the economy, the group announced Tuesday.
The new campaign run by Priorities USA, the main super PAC that will support the eventual Democratic nominee for president, will counter news about Trump tax cuts and rising stock prices with information about increases to the costs of living and health care — and will seek to pin voters’ problems on the Trump White House. It is focused on four states that Democrats see as crucial to winning back the White House: Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“Most of the conversation has been on Mueller, on collusion, over the last week on race, and comments the president has made on four Democratic [House] members,” Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, said on Tuesday morning. “But it’s not a lot about the economy — and the point we’ve made is that Americans are experiencing Donald Trump’s economy in a way that is fundamentally different from the headlines.”
Priorities USA will also push its message in three parts: it will share news stories online, advertise in search results and push testimonial videos of people talking about their struggles.
“I paid into Medicare my whole life. Trump wants to cut it just to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,” a man says in one ad that will run online as part of the campaign, which will cost Priorities between $250,000 and $450,000 each week.
Uniting under a central message is a key part of the super PAC’s 2020 strategy, Cecil said.
“Part of the reason why we are in this mess is because we have micro-targeted our way into creating a coalition of the aggrieved, where each person has their own issue,” Cecil said. Democrats need “a message that is consistent and compelling and can reach people.”
The message is distinct from the focus of cable news shows and some Democrats in Washington. Robert Mueller’s investigation into the president was a significant focus for many Democrats in Congress this year, and this summer lawmakers have debated whether to open impeachment proceedings against the president. Impeachment would dominate too much conversation and could cost Democrats a victory in 2020, Cecil argued.
The spending is one part of $100 million that Priorities USA has earmarked for the primaries, while Democratic candidates are battling for the nomination. President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee have meanwhile begun aggressive spending of their own, having put down close to $6 million online on Facebook alone during the first half of the year.
