That ad above was from 2020 and the same group is doing ads like this again on a larger scale for 2024. This is a great idea, in my opinion. Everyone says that the only way most people can be persuaded is if the message comes from people with whom they identify or trust. Yes, a lot of them will say this is AI or fake news but the ones who haven’t completely gone down the wingnut rabbit hole might feel the truth in it and respond:
Democrats began the search last summer, fanning out through the northern swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to find the nurses, electricians, farmers and floor installers who could best testify to the danger of Donald Trump returning to power.
The previously unreported project by the outside group American Bridge 21st Century developed 732 leads, conducted 472 interviews and then filmed about 50 voters who will anchor a $140 million ad campaign starting this spring, aimed at reminding women and working-class voters why they voted against Trump in 2020, according to the group’s leaders.
“The hardest part about using the most powerful messengers in politics, which are real people from these communities, is finding them,” said Bradley Beychok, co-founder of American Bridge.
The planned ad campaign will expand upon a smaller effort American Bridge launched in 2020 to turn working-class voters in the same states against Trump. This time, with the tacit support of the White House and President Biden’s team, the focus will narrow somewhat to working-class female voters in those states, with the possibility of expanding into North Carolina later, Beychok said.
The ads will focus Trump’s role in curtailing abortion access, his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Republican plans for entitlement reform and Biden’s plans for the economy. Early spots include testimonials from a female union electrician in Wisconsin and a Pennsylvania woman who talks emotionally about what it meant to hang her U.S. flag outside her home on the day after the Jan. 6 attack.
Historian Rick Perlstein always quotes a 1930’s era Texas congressman named Maury Maverick (great name) who defined liberalism as “freedom plus groceries.” It sounds like this strategy is going with that and I think it’s never been more powerful. Coming from people in their own states makes it even more powerful. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the ads.