WASHINGTON – Cities on fire. Fighting rioters armed with batons. Bodies stacked in makeshift graves.
A trailer for the new apocalyptic hit? No, just some of the newest savers on social media and television as the war on advertising spreads between President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and his pocket allies.
Classified attack ads were historically reserved for the last weeks of a campaign, when the vast majority of the electorate had turned to a candidate and there was less to lose when attacking their rivals.
But in the middle of the summer there was a barrage of competitive ads, such as a television ad on Trump’s crusade describing Biden as a distressed puppet of the socialist left that fostered chaos or a viral video ad from the progressive organization Really American that labeled the president’s law, and the time table as “Trump of the Gestapo.”
Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said he expects the intensity to be accentuated in the run-up to November 3.
“It’s a bit like World War II. Most losses have occurred in the last 3 months,” he said. “When the homeland is invaded, other people are passionate about their defense (of) assailants and very jealous in their attack.”
Trump’s crusade suspended his announcements, saying that the crusade manager’s recent replacement for Bill Stepien led to a “adjustment” of the strategy. A senior crusade official said they were hoping to return next week “stronger.”
On Friday, Trump tweeted about “a new publicity at Sleepy Joe Biden to be released Monday.”
So far, Trump has been the aggressor, reflecting his personality of not taking prisoners at a time when polls show him badly to Biden, according to experts.
“Usually, we have a headline that’s at the forefront, a headline that has an aversion. Let’s move past the clock,” said Travis Ridout, a professor of public policy at Washington State University who studies political messages.
“This time we have a headline that’s way behind,” he said. “The outgoing operator has to shake the race, and the most productive opportunity to do so is to go out to disqualify the challenger, go out to throw mud, wait for it to land, I hope the media will recover it.”
In addition: Polls show Trump loses to Joe Biden. They said the same thing four years ago in opposition to Hillary Clinton.
Since the presidential arena in 2015, Trump has embraced his personality as a fighter with his fists closed. He attacks wartime parties, Republicans and Democrats, mocking them with insulting nicknames.
Trump’s crusade has spent a lot of time defining Biden, the so-called Democratic nominee who has made limited appearances on the crusade due to patterns of social estrangement.
In June, Trump’s crusade aired more than 55,000 classified television ads (on television, national cable channels, and domestic network channels) at an estimated cost of $52 million, according to the independent Wesleyan Media Project, which co-directs Ridout.
More than 90% of those locations aired since May 11, compared to just 3103 classified ads that Biden’s crusade issued at a charge of $3.2 million in the same period. But teams that oppose Trump or help Biden have fallen behind.
Led through Priorities USA, a leading pro-Democrat outdoor group, third-party teams supporting the former vice president aired some 18,000 television commercials, according to Wesleyan. Many denigrate Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has inflamed more than 4.5 million Americans, his reaction to national protests opposed to police brutality, and the assistance that political allies have gained from his administration.
Trump’s crusade announcements, both online and on television, targeted Biden on several fronts, accusing him of initiating an era of illegality, of being too friendly to China, and of seeming his age.
Some make false claims, such as the claim that Biden deferred funding from the police, a position he expressly rejected.
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While Biden’s classified ads come with a complaint from Trump and his leadership in the country, they have largely tried to re-introduce the American public to the lifelong politician, who has not been elected since he left the White House in January 2017.
Third-party groups, such as Project Lincoln and Priorities USA, have issued the maximum of classified ads of attack opposed to the president.
“Trump is the highest corrupt president in U.S. history,” was published in a recent announcement of Project Lincoln, as several advisers who had been convicted of crimes appeared. “There’s a way to end trump criminal frenzy. Throw him and his criminals out of their duties.”
Another anti-Trump ad, co-sponsored by Priorities USA and Color of Change, which features clashes between police and protesters, has been banned via Google for being too graphic, Facebook has not censored it.
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John Geer, who has written extensively about presidential campaigns of negative classified ads, expects ad wars to accumulate in frequency and intensity, especially with the coronavirus pandemic that restricts candidates’ ability to succeed in electorate in users and at demonstrations.
“And since Trump is not in a position to stand in the middle and moderate any of his views, he will only have to demolish Biden,” said Geer, dean of Vanderbilt University School of Arts and Sciences in Nashville, Tennessee. . “It worked for him in 2016, but Biden, as we all know, is another Hillary Clinton candidate.”
Attacking someone because of their age or perceived cognitive impairment was once taboo. Questions about a decrease in Ronald Reagan’s intellectual acuity arose mainly in whispers of the 1984 campaign, not in attack announcements.
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Not for Trump, who likes to break the standards, especially in his favorite medium, Twitter, where he can talk directly to his 83.6 million fans, in tons harder than tv ads broadcast through his campaign.
For example, the president’s June 28 tweet accused Biden of being “a low IQ.”
Such non-public criticism is historically made through independent teams connected to a presidential campaign. But Trump has been much more particular in attacking his war-on-war parties on sensitive issues, Geer said.
“I don’t think Trump uses dog whistles as much as a fog horn,” he said.
Negative classified ads can be very effective if they magnify an unusual belief in opposition to the candidate, Geer said.
Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 announcement of “Daisy” raised considerations about Barry Goldwater’s willingness to use nuclear weapons. The 1988 announcement “Willie Horton” through George H.W. Bush’s crusade attacked Michael Dukakis for his weakness in the face of crime. The 2004 “Windsurfer” announcement of George W. Bush’s crusade aimed at John Kerry’s position changes.
“They’re tough when they have a smart vehicle. But they have something real,” he said.
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“Have you ever attacked Bill Clinton for being stupid?” He said. I said, “No. Because it’s not. But they’re attacking him because of loyalty-like problems and integrity because there’s evidence of the cases.”
There is also an alienation of voters.
“For some, negativity is exhilarating: “I was angry, I will faint. I’ll do it with my candidate, ” he said. For others, it’s demobilizing in the sense that we think, Oh, they’re just a bunch of criminals who each other. Why do they deserve to vote?”