Now this is how Democrats should be linking Republican candidates to Donald Trump. EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood have launched a new $1.7 million campaign against New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and their spot starts straight away with footage of Trump proclaiming that “Planned Parenthood should absolutely be defunded”—an unpopular position in the Granite State—before the narrator accuses Ayotte of “voting six times to do just that.”
The ad concludes with a clip of Ayotte saying that she thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned, then returns to Trump, who declares: “There has to be some form of punishment” for women who get abortions. We like this ad a lot because unlike some Democratic spots that try to tie Republicans to Trump without actually showing Trump saying anything offensive or reckless, this spot smartly shoves Trump’s face right in the viewers’ faces, reminding them why he’s so awful in the first place.
As we’ve noted before, there are plenty of voters who aren’t paying close attention to Trump, so they may not be familiar with his many, many awful comments. And even voters who are already inclined to oppose Trump could always use a good reminder right off the bat why they’re not supporting him. Once an ad has viewers recoiling, that’s when you connect whichever Republican you’re running against to this human nightmare running for president.
Hillary Clinton and her allies frequently use clips of Trump talking in their own ads to make their case against him, understanding that he’s his own worst surrogate. Democrats running for House or Senate have a little more work to do to forge that chain between the bottom and the top of the GOP ticket, but it’s not that hard—and Planned Parenthood and EMILY’s List are showing how it's done.
Let's show Kelly Ayotte that her support for Trump has consequences. Please chip in $3 to Democrat Maggie Hassan today.