Democratic super PAC launches $50 million effort to weaken Trump with core supporters

[brooklynite]

Source: NBC News

WASHINGTON — One of the largest Democratic super PACs, American Bridge, is embarking on a $50 million effort designed to soften President Donald Trump's support among the group that cost Democrats the White House in 2016 — white working-class voters in the Upper Midwest.

"We understand that we may not win these voters back entirely, but if we don't make inroads into these areas, we will win the popular vote, lose the Electoral College, and the Senate could be lost for a decade," the group wrote in a memo to prospective donors obtained by NBC News.

Officials with the super PAC and its affiliated non-profit, founded by longtime operative David Brock, are on a nationwide fundraising tour to expand the group's budget nearly three-fold, from less than $30 million per two-year election cycle to $80 million for the 2020 campaign.

That $50 million expansion will go toward a massive paid advertising campaign on TV, digital, and radio, officials said, as well as other efforts to persuade rural and exurban voters in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — with the possible addition of Florida — that Trump has been harmful for their economic interests.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/democratic-super-pac-launches-50-million-effort-weaken-trump-core-n985571?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

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I met with David Brock, James Carville, Paul Begala and Jennifer Granholm last week to discuss this. AB is also working on flipping State Leg seats as well as their usual work in the House and Senate.

[mountain grammy]

1. I'll hold my nose and donate.

Too much to lose by ignoring this issue.

[Hortensis]

2. "Trump's core voters" or traditional conservative voters

who are not happy with trumpist extremism? Big difference.

This is an of-course strategy. After all, candidates all over the nation did it big time for the midterms. Most of our 2020 candidates will also be speaking to conservatives who are not comfortable with what the GOP has degraded into and worried about where it's going.

[bullwinkle428]

3. If we're defining "core supporters" as the out-and-out cultists, they might

as well set that $50 million on fire. Now, if we're talking about doing more outreach in the red states in general, then I'm totally on board with that.

[Power 2 the People]

10. +1000

He literally COULD "shoot somebody in the middle of 5th Avenue and not lose any support" from the nut bags.

[NewJeffCT]

4. If they can get even 5-10% of Trump voters in those states to

either stay home, vote 3rd party or vote Democratic, it will be worth it. Democrats made good progress in MI, PA and WI in 2018, as well as in Iowa and hopefully this will continue into 2020.

All of those states were decided by less than 1%, so they only need to flip 1 voter in 100.

[Dem4Life101]

5. This is a good idea

A lot of his base doesn't even understand the harm he is doing to them. They are blind. Maybe this will help educate these people to start voting their own interest

[moose65]

6. It's not really his "base" we should care about

His hardcore, Cult-of-Trump supporters will NEVER give up on him. The people who CAN be talked to are the people who didn't vote in 2016, or those who are only marginally aware of politics. Not everyone is like us on DU - we who watch this stuff every day. There are people who don't really pay much attention to all of this, and who voted Republican because they always have (although I really can't imagine the life of a person who doesn't know who Trump is)!

Those people can be persuaded, and those independent voters who are disgusted with Trump, and those marginal Democrats who didn't vote because they assumed Hillary was going to win. I am hoping that there has been a great awakening in these last two years, and if this PAC can stay on message and show people how horrible Trump is for them, then that's a good thing!

[Firestorm49]

7. I applaud their effort as one of a multi-prong strategies, but......

his true idiotic, fascist thinking, unwavering, illiterate base will remain true to him for whatever single reason it may be......abortion? White supremacy? Blah, blah, blah.

I can only hope that there will be multiple Democratic strategies employed on all media fronts. Appealing to the more educated and younger voters should be one target. Reinforcing the cause to women of all ethnicities should be another. Each target demographic should have its own relentless strategy and goal.

This is put up or shut up time. I hope intellegent minds prevail. Now’s not the time to screw up. The Democratic Party has not defined itself well enough to the “independents” this past few years. We don’t just want to be identified as the “witch hunt” party. People need to know EXACTLY the reasons why they should vote Democratic. Is Perez doing the job? I haven’t seen him as the face of the party nearly often enough.

[BlueIdaho]

8. Leave no road untraveled.

Let’s face it, gerrymandering and voter harassment have tilted the field in favor of that pile of shit in the White House and his heartless cronies. We need to explore every option to defeat the GOP everywhere.

[rainin]

9. Spend 50 million on a right wing alternative to trump and it might work.

Spending to get any of them to vote for a democrat is just burning money. It won't work. They think all democrats worship the devil.

I'm still glad they're trying. We need all hands on deck.

[onit2day]

11. Stop ignoring the fact that Trump basically ran as a democrat, lying all the way to the WH

Except for a couple of programs he ran on a democratic platform with expanding SS, not cutting Medicare or Medicaid, Healthcare cheaper that would cover everybody, increased min wage, affordable college. lower taxes, tariffs, bring jobs back etc.. We just have to make a better effort of showing what democrats stand for and what we will do. We are running against a do nothing cult which has been lying to divide America, whose leader is a sociopath authoritarian attracting more sociopaths to do his bidding. Being progressive democrats instead of status quo DLC let's not rock the boat (which is currently sinking) corporate dems, will win the day. That money is better spent asking the questions what do you want? What are you for or against and then providing Democratic solutions which will unite us because more unites us than divides us and we are the only party with those solutions and the candidates to take action to accomplish them. We must BE what we represent. Being always precedes Doing. We already are democratic socialists but the label is being demonized yet it is the only form of gov which ensures both our freedom and our survival, plus as polls show it also brings happiness. And Capitalism is not a form of government. It is an economic system where people live off capital or money (dividends). By definition America has very few capitalists.

[Karadeniz]

12. Do we really want his core supporters???????? Independents, yes. Obama,Trump voters, yes.

But Trumps core? They might never be happy in this tent.

[BlueFlorida]

13. Trump's core supporters

are racist, xenophobic, homophobic and misogynistic assholes and they are unlikely to be swayed.

We can only peel off the traditionally Democratic white working class voters who have by now received the tax return shock.

Even that will be enough to sink the orange buffoon.