A Democrat-affiliated group is trying to stop a red wave in the midterm elections by shaming young residents of battleground states into voting, according to Axios.
Democratic super PAC Priorities USA is using social pressure to shame residents of battleground states into voting by running advertisements warning viewers that it shows up on their public record whether or not they cast a ballot in an election, Axios reported. This is part of their strategy to increase votes for Democratic candidates in November by spending $30 million on digital instead of TV advertising.
“Who you vote for is secret. But whether you decide to cast a vote or not is public. So keep making your community proud this November,” says one ad featured on multiple social media platforms.
“This is Bob,” says another ad, featuring an animated stick figure. “Bob liked posting that he voted in 2020 … But we know he let his voter registration get out of date. Don’t be like Bob.”
.@prioritiesUSA isn’t just focused on short-term electoral success. We’re training & equipping the next generation of digital strategists. We’ve trained over 500 people since 2021 & provide state-of-the-art ad tracking services to over 100 organizations. https://t.co/RFMCu8WVxF
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) August 26, 2022
These ads are blasted around Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, streaming music services and connected TV, Axios confirmed. The ads are particularly targeting urban residents and people who live near universities in midterm battleground states, including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where most Democratic candidates for governor and U.S. Senate are leading over their Republican challengers in polling averages calculated by Real Clear Politics. (RELATED: Oz Campaign Claims John Fetterman Is ‘Too Sick’ After Democrat Declines To Participate In Debate)
Still, some of the races are tight.
In Arizona, Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs is leading Republican challenger Kari Lake by 3 percentage points (47%-44%) in a Fox News poll, while the most recent poll conducted by Trafalgar Group shows Lake in the lead by 1 percentage point (47%-46%).
Nevada’s gubernatorial race is deemed a toss-up, with Republican candidate Joe Lombardo leading over Democratic candidate Steve Sisolak by 2 percentage points (46%-44%) in the latest Trafalgar poll, but trailing by 3 percentage points (40%-43%) in a poll conducted during the same week by the Reno Gazette-Journal and Suffolk.
Studies cited by Axios have revealed “vote shaming” can effectively increase voter turnout.
“It is a light hearted, almost comical way of addressing it in a sense of trying to get folks to understand kind of the community aspect of voting,” Priorities USA deputy executive director Aneesa McMillan told Axios.
Priorities USA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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