Here's How Hillary Clinton's Allies Plan To Go After Trump
"The fact of the matter is knowledge about Donald Trump is a mile wide and an inch deep," Guy Cecil says.
By Gabriel Debenedetti
Politico
May 17, 2016
The coming ad assault against Donald Trump from pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action is likely to drill a three-pronged message deep into the minds of swing state voters, if the group’s leaders have their way.
The three central tenets of the message will be that the real estate investor is a divisive character, that he’s too dangerous to vote for, and that he’s a con man, Priorities’ chief strategist Guy Cecil explained to POLITICO on Monday — two days before the organization started its run of television advertising that’s set to effectively stay on the air straight through Election Day in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia.
The coming ad assault against Donald Trump from pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action is likely to drill a three-pronged message deep into the minds of swing state voters, if the group’s leaders have their way.
The three central tenets of the message will be that the real estate investor is a divisive character, that he’s too dangerous to vote for, and that he’s a con man, Priorities’ chief strategist Guy Cecil explained to POLITICO on Monday — two days before the organization started its run of television advertising that’s set to effectively stay on the air straight through Election Day in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia.
The effort is kicking off this week by educating swing-state voters about Trump.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about Donald Trump is [that he has] virtually universal name recognition, that voters are completely clued into this race, that they know Donald Trump, that they know about his career, that they’ve seen the more outrageous positions he’s taken. The fact of the matter is knowledge about Donald Trump is a mile wide and an inch deep. In fact, most Americans who have been busy living their lives, who have not been watching cable coverage, [know] very little about Donald Trump,” said Cecil, noting that the group has found that clips tend to prove most effective when voters see or hear the presumptive GOP nominee directly.
“They are more likely to know what contestants were on The Apprentice or that he owned Miss Universe than anything else, so we believe there is a lot more to do in order to make sure voters understand where he stands. And, in particular, as we’ve done our own research — focus groups — what comes out most immediately is that voters know virtually nothing outside of his entertainment career."
The group’s deluge of television-based attempts to define Trump, who outlasted 16 primary opponents, are kicking off to the tune of $96 million so far, alongside $35 million in reservations for digital efforts and $5 million for radio spots.
The first theme — that he’s too divisive — focuses on Trump’s harsh rhetoric reserved for distinct segments of the electorate: “women, Hispanics, Muslims, African-Americans,” almost all groups, said Cecil.
The second — that he’s too dangerous — takes a national security tack.
“I frankly don’t think ‘risky’ captures it, because ‘risk’ implies potential upside,” explained Cecil, mentioning clips that show Trump suggesting more countries should have nuclear weapons and insisting that he knows more than generals, also alluding to Trump’s recent barbs toward leaders in the United Kingdom. “We have a presidential candidate who is already getting into wars of words with our most important allies."
And the final prong, “that he has been basically pulling a con job on people,” will dive into his economic positions — like on trade, where he sounds a populist tone but has spoken of employing people in Bangladesh — and his own business record, including how he refused to release his tax returns.
Building its onslaught around the premise that Trump has not yet been properly introduced to target voters despite his ubiquity on cable television, the group expects to run multiple tracks of attack at once, targeting different groups of voters within the seven pinpointed states. So while the PAC will run television ads based around the three central prongs, Cecil explained, it will also be using its digital channels as part of its overall attempt to appeal to Millennials, Hispanics, and other key constituencies.
Priorities has been running focus groups and surveys in the seven states since February, testing appeals with groups of persuadable voters, Democratic voters, and infrequent voters. The group has also tested over 75 clips of Trump using online panels, helping it to pinpoint key moments of maximum impact.
And, in addition to its more straightforward testing, Priorities also tested a number of the Republican-funded anti-Trump super PAC ads that ran during the primary, recognizing that those spots were largely absent from major swing states, and that they were targeted to Republicans rather than independents or persuadable voters.
Article Link to Politico:
Here's How Hillary Clinton's Allies Plan To Go After Trump
“One of the biggest misconceptions about Donald Trump is [that he has] virtually universal name recognition, that voters are completely clued into this race, that they know Donald Trump, that they know about his career, that they’ve seen the more outrageous positions he’s taken. The fact of the matter is knowledge about Donald Trump is a mile wide and an inch deep. In fact, most Americans who have been busy living their lives, who have not been watching cable coverage, [know] very little about Donald Trump,” said Cecil, noting that the group has found that clips tend to prove most effective when voters see or hear the presumptive GOP nominee directly.
“They are more likely to know what contestants were on The Apprentice or that he owned Miss Universe than anything else, so we believe there is a lot more to do in order to make sure voters understand where he stands. And, in particular, as we’ve done our own research — focus groups — what comes out most immediately is that voters know virtually nothing outside of his entertainment career."
The group’s deluge of television-based attempts to define Trump, who outlasted 16 primary opponents, are kicking off to the tune of $96 million so far, alongside $35 million in reservations for digital efforts and $5 million for radio spots.
The first theme — that he’s too divisive — focuses on Trump’s harsh rhetoric reserved for distinct segments of the electorate: “women, Hispanics, Muslims, African-Americans,” almost all groups, said Cecil.
The second — that he’s too dangerous — takes a national security tack.
“I frankly don’t think ‘risky’ captures it, because ‘risk’ implies potential upside,” explained Cecil, mentioning clips that show Trump suggesting more countries should have nuclear weapons and insisting that he knows more than generals, also alluding to Trump’s recent barbs toward leaders in the United Kingdom. “We have a presidential candidate who is already getting into wars of words with our most important allies."
And the final prong, “that he has been basically pulling a con job on people,” will dive into his economic positions — like on trade, where he sounds a populist tone but has spoken of employing people in Bangladesh — and his own business record, including how he refused to release his tax returns.
Building its onslaught around the premise that Trump has not yet been properly introduced to target voters despite his ubiquity on cable television, the group expects to run multiple tracks of attack at once, targeting different groups of voters within the seven pinpointed states. So while the PAC will run television ads based around the three central prongs, Cecil explained, it will also be using its digital channels as part of its overall attempt to appeal to Millennials, Hispanics, and other key constituencies.
Priorities has been running focus groups and surveys in the seven states since February, testing appeals with groups of persuadable voters, Democratic voters, and infrequent voters. The group has also tested over 75 clips of Trump using online panels, helping it to pinpoint key moments of maximum impact.
And, in addition to its more straightforward testing, Priorities also tested a number of the Republican-funded anti-Trump super PAC ads that ran during the primary, recognizing that those spots were largely absent from major swing states, and that they were targeted to Republicans rather than independents or persuadable voters.
Article Link to Politico:
Here's How Hillary Clinton's Allies Plan To Go After Trump
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