GOP Pre-empts Democratic Messaging With New Digital Ad
Ad is running in Pelosi’s district and 12 Democratic districts Trump carried
A Republican super PAC aligned with House leadership is pre-empting the new Democratic messaging point with its own digital ad.
Democrats are expected to unveil their new slogan “A Better Deal” on Monday. And the Congressional Leadership Fund is launching a digital ad in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district and in 12 others that President Donald Trump won in November.
The ad, which will be up for two weeks, is titled “Resistance” and features images of violent protests and activists including filmmaker Michael Moore and other anti-Trump celebrities. A CLF spokesperson declined to comment on the size of the digital ad buy.
“The Democrats are the party of the resistance,” the narrator says in the ad. “Radical extremists who destroy buildings, burn cars and divide America. Hollywood celebrities who are blinded by their hatred of the president. Nancy Pelosi and the Washington Democrats answer to them.”
“There’s no new agenda,” the ad continues. “Behind the poll-tested slogan are the same old, liberal ideas.”
Pelosi, who has been the House Democratic leader since 2002 and served as the first female speaker, is a frequent campaign target for Republicans who say the California Democrat is too liberal. And the Congressional Leadership Fund is once again taking aim at Pelosi as Democrats look to unveil their revamped agenda.
“The simple truth is that a Democrat is someone who is beholden to Nancy Pelosi, wants to raise your taxes, is blinded by their hatred of the president, and regularly loses elections,” said Corry Bliss, the group’s executive director.
In addition to Pelosi’s district, the ads will run in 12 others that Trump carried last fall and are represented by Democrats: Minnesota’s 1st, 7th and 8th districts; Pennsylvania’s 17th; Wisconsin’s 3rd; Iowa’s 2nd; New York’s 18th; New Hampshire’s 1st; New Jersey’s 5th; Arizona’s 1st; Nevada’s 3rd; and Illinois’ 17th District.
But Democrats see 2018 as a potentially winning midterm election year. They need 24 seats to win back the House, and are targeting a wide array of districts, including 23 GOP districts that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried in November.
For Democrats, the anti-Trump energy and renewed grass-roots activism, combined with historic midterm trends in which the party occupying the White House loses seats in the president’s first midterm election, set the stage for a successful 2018.