A new analysis conducted by a Republican analytics company found that anti-Donald Trump TV ads don’t seem to work on men.
The company, called Evolving Strategies, tested four anti-Trump campaign ads and found a remarkable split among the sexes. Three out of the four ads were effective in changing about eight percent of women’s minds in the experiment, but the same effect vanished when it came to men, Roll Call reports.
Men supporting Trump, even after viewing the four ads, remained essentially the same, which is likely why, despite countless millions poured into counter-Trump messaging, support for the real estate tycoon and front-runner has remained constant. Negative ads on Trump have failed to make a dent in his campaign and ruin his chances to hit the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination.
“When you’re looking at these ads, they’re not game changers,” Adam Schaeffer, director of research for Evolving Strategies, told Roll Call. “This is shifting margins only slightly overall.”
The first ad discussed Trump’s ideological break from conservatism. The second tried to paint him as an misogynist. Mitt Romney attacked Trump in the third. The fourth pointed out Trump University’s troubled history.
The first ad failed on both men and women. It’s unclear why all four ads consistently failed to work on men. Schaeffer noted establishment Republicans may at this point need to try a “Hail Mary” to dissuade Trump supporters.
Schaeffer used a sample size of 3,500 GOP-registered voters from April 27-29 for his experiment. If they weren’t registered Republicans, these adults were at least thinking about voting in the primary.
Trump’s recent five-state win has given his campaign even more momentum. Polling in Indiana suggests he’s ready to take that state, as well, which may deliver a decisive blow against GOP Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] and ruin hopes of a brokered convention in July. Still, anti-Trump forces aren’t giving up. Pro-Cruz proponents are spending over $6 million in advance of the Indiana primary on Tuesday to dominate the advertising space. Comparatively, the Trump campaign has spent just $960,000 in Indiana.
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