Priorities USA Action is already heavily invested in pro-Clinton advertising, but now the group is turning its attention to ground operations and making sure that people of color vote this election, particularly in key swing states. Vanessa Williams writes:
The super PAC has pledged $3.5 million to the Center for Community Change Action and Immigrant Voters Win, which is focused on boosting turnout among Latino and Asian Americans in Florida, Nevada and Colorado. A third group, BlackPAC, will focus on millennials and hopes to maintain the historically high level of turnout among African American voters during the past two presidential elections.
Leaders of those groups welcomed the financial help, warning that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s high unfavorable rating among voters of color might not be enough to ensure that they will show up in force for an election that has proven to be unpredictable.
“This marks the beginning of our investment in ground game activities,” said Priorities USA spokesman Justin Barasky, who added that additional money will be spent with other groups involved in voter turnout activities.
Priorities USA is now redirecting some of its original $150 million advertising investment to focus on GOTV efforts. The group is pulling ads specifically from states like Virginia, where Clinton is polling quite well and may not need the extra boost.
All in all, this is a smart move. Even as her campaign has opened the door to Republican voters, Clinton has continued to advance the progressive agenda she forged during her primary race against Bernie Sanders. Scrapping the airwaves in favor of turning out base voters issue-by-issue is likely a much better return on investment, especially when Clinton holds a clear lead in states where those ads were slated to run.