May 17, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Democrats test Trump's swing-state vulnerability on small-business pain

Margaret Talev

Hand with a dollar bill — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

For months, Democrats have been attacking President Trump over his national coronavirus response — but a new digital campaign is about to test how much more potent the argument becomes when it's targeted to individual states and communities.

Details: The $1.5 million buy from Pacronym, a super PAC with ties to President Obama's former campaign manager and strategist David Plouffe, is running on digital platforms in five battleground states — Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The ads include combinations of videos, graphics and news clips tailored to each state, focusing on how local economies have suffered from the virus response.
They'll run on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Roku TV, Pandora, CBSi and McClatchy over the next two weeks.
The group plans to measure the ads' effectiveness on its Barometer platform.

What they're saying: Shannon Kowalczyk, Pacronym's chief marketing officer, tells Axios in an email that the campaign will amplify "so many stories from around the country of small businesses who are struggling to get relief as large corporations and chains receive bailouts from the Trump administration" and "how that has impacted our local economies."

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Democrats test Trump's swing-state vulnerability on small-business pain

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