'Doom-and-gloom' ads attacking Trump are backfiring, Democratic strategist argues
Political ads that attack President Trump, like those produced by the Lincoln Project, tend to go viral, but Jess McIntosh, a veteran Democratic communications strategist, told Vanity Fair that's not the way to go if Democrats (or, in the case of the Lincoln Project, anti-Trump Republicans) want to prevent the president's re-election.
McIntosh specifically criticized "scary, doom-and-gloom, negative spots" that use Trump's voice or even just his face. She said they "not only aren't working with people that we want, they're causing backlash among the people that we need."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
McIntosh learned from experience, having overseen a digital ad earlier this year condemning Trump's march across Lafayette Square during the George Floyd protests. Testing reportedly showed the campaign changed almost no minds about Trump or the demonstrations. Subsequently, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, McIntosh's non-profit ad agency Fellow Americans, took Trump out of a lot of its content, opting to challenge his response to the crisis "in more creative ways." Read more at Vanity Fair.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
