The Trump campaign told GOP congressional members Tuesday that it will kick off its general election ad run Friday with spots in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. We don't know whether those ads will aim to improve Trump's image or drag down Hillary Clinton, but based on the conference call with lawmakers, we do know the ads will highlight Trump’s tight messaging over the past several weeks. Beth Reinhard writes:
According to one participant in the conference call Tuesday, some members of Congress expressed concerns about Mr. Trump’s failure to stay focused on major issues, draw contrasts with Mrs. Clinton and act “presidential” instead of being drawn into personality-driven spats. Campaign advisers say the media buy will build on the focused messages delivered by Mr. Trump in recent policy speeches on the economy and national security.
As in, revisiting the tag-team effort by President Obama and Clinton to found ISIS? Or maybe a nationwide shout out to Trump's "Second Amendment people"? Perhaps they'll rehash all that Gold Star family fun?
Clinton holds a narrow-to-significant lead in every state where the ads will debut. According to the Huffpost average of polls, here's the breakdown:
Florida: Clinton 45.8, Trump 42.4
North Carolina: Clinton 44.6, Trump 41.4
Ohio: Clinton 44, Trump 42.5
Pennsylvania: Clinton 47.4, Trump 40.2
The run will be broadened to include other states after Sept. 1. Since mid-June, Trump has spent $0 to Clinton's $61 million; pro-Clinton groups kicked in another $43 million, while pro-Trump groups spent $12.4 million.