With as much as $200 million being reserved for TV ads in smaller media markets, one Democrat super PAC is hoping rural voters don’t watch what MSNBC is saying about them.
Democrats are turning to a bloc of voters that hasn’t been friendly to their candidates in recent elections: rural voters.
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democrat super PAC, is targeting smaller cities like Erie, Pennsylvania with television ads. The first flight of ads, according to the Associated Press, will emphasize abortion and health care, with a particular focus on women voters.
The ads, featuring a nurse criticizing the overturning of Roe v. Wade and former President Donald Trump, will also air in Michigan and Wisconsin. American Bride co-founder Bradley Beychok argues it’s important to reach areas Democrats have turned their back on because “margins matter” in elections.
Beychok suggested voters need to be reminded why they should be “afraid of Trump”, and focusing on “what’s important to women” is key.
The super PAC may see limited or no success as Trump dominated small towns and rural areas in 2020. When Trump’s emergence during the 2016 presidential election saw rural voters swing overwhelmingly onto Republican voter rolls, some swing state Democrats say it set them back and “undid progress [they] had made in winning the trust of voters in rural areas nationwide.”
This new effort to reach rural voters stands in stark contrast to what liberal talking heads and cable news hosts have been saying about them in recent years. Tom Schaller, co-author of the new book White Rural Rage said on MSNBC white rural voters are “the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay”, “anti-democratic” and “the most conspiracist” cohort of American voters. Many among the liberal media elite saw an opportunity to agree, with Salon, The Daily Beast, and Mother Jones joining in.
While others among the liberal intelligentsia felt the need to engage in explanatory journalism arguing that rural white voters are a threat to democracy, but that “it’s a mistake to treat ordinary Trump voters with contempt.”
In addition to shallow threats about Trump, Democrats are also trying to buy votes. Last September, the Biden campaign and White House believed an influx of transportation and infrastructure spending in rural communities will help shift voters their way.
The mystery of how Democrats can attract rural voters remains unsolved, but some believe politicians like Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly hold the key: Lose by less in rural areas. In a prime example of missing the target entirely, The New York Times opinion section tried to tackle this subject, they focused on a former GOP party leader in western Ohio who left the party due to his anti-Trump stance and eventually became the local Democrat Party chair.
Regardless of ad campaigns, the Democrats’ problem with attracting rural voters isn’t getting any better.
