Commentary

Clinton's Ad Strategy Begins By Attacking Trump's Treatment Of Women

Hillary Clinton is marshaling her ad strategy against Trump.

Last week, the pro-Clinton group Priorities USA released two anti-Trump ads focused on a general election strategy: keep the spotlight on his offensive comments about women.

The ads, “Speak” and “Respect,” focus on Donald Trump’s relationship with women. Backed by a $6 million buy, the spots are expected to run for the next two weeks in Nevada, Ohio, Florida and Virginia.

Ace Metrix took a look at the relative success of both. (Respondents rate ads that represent persuasion actions, such as attention, impact, information.)

“Speak” closely resembles another anti-Trump ad from back in March titled “Quotes,” where women read deeply troubling comments he made about women. “Quotes” was released by conservative anti-Trump group Our Principles PAC.

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The main difference with “Speak” is Donald Trump’s voice replaces that of the woman or man on screen.

Between the two, among Democrats and Independents, “Quotes,” the version from Our Principles PAC did best, scoring a significantly higher Ace score in both groups. “Speak,” the pro-Clinton ad with Trump quotes, did better with Democrats than Independents.

That Independent vote, however, will be crucial in November, and Clinton is slightly behind Trump among those voters.

“Respect,” which takes comparatively more advantage of creative opportunities, in that it uses a mix of text and various scenes to frame Trump quotes, was most effective for Independent millennial female voters. It registered a 579 Ace score in that group, far above the norm of 460.

Trump and his campaign have been marred by questionable interactions and comments about women.

Even direct attacks from Trump on Hillary Clinton are woefully plastered with sexism: “The only card she has is the woman’s card. She’s got nothing else to offer. And frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5% of the vote.”

The DNC and Hillary Clinton, should she win the nomination (she is 74 delegates short), will  pepper Trump throughout the general election about his lengthy rap sheet regarding his boorish relationships with women.

Even though the campaign has enlisted Trump’s daughter Ivanka to allay the talk of misogyny, Democrats and Republicans opposed to Trump can be expected to step up the charge.

Women, the largest demographic group in the United States, will play a crucial role come November. As the first female nominee of a major political party, Hillary Clinton will look to solidly rally her demographic.

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