WASHINGTON — Priorities USA, the pro-Clinton Super PAC that's spent millions in an effort to mobilize black voters is in swing states, is out with a final 30-second appeal running on TV in Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.
The ad, titled "Everything," juxtaposes Donald Trump's bleak outreach to black voters on the stump with a hopeful message from President Obama.
With a turnout election on their hands, Democrats are bracing for a close battle with Trump on Election Day, and one of the most effective keys to winning being turning out large numbers of black and Latino voters. So far, Democrats have seen bad signs for black turnout, and strong signs for Latino turnout.
The ad is the closing spot of a $3 million dollar ad buy that started in September, according to Priorities.
In the speech the ad draws from, Obama had cast Trump as a mean-spirited fraud who was trying to depress voters with negative rhetoric about black Americans living in poverty with terrible schools and no jobs.
"Sometimes politics can seem frustrating, something our democracy can seem mean-spirited," Obama is heard saying. "Don't fall for what Trump tries to do and just make everybody depressed."
Obama has been a fixture on the campaign trail for Clinton, touting his record over the course of the past eight years, and offering Clinton as his worthy successor: a sober, qualified choice.
At times, Obama has acknowledged cynicism casting a pall over the election. In his address, he took it on as an effort to depress the vote.
“Don’t fall for the easy cynicism that says your vote doesn’t matter," he said in the Cleveland speech. "I promise you, your vote matters. Send a message of progress, send a message of hope.”
Jeff Johnson, a strategist brought on to work on content related to black voters at Priorities USA, said in a statement "Donald Trump thinks that African Americans are ‘living in poverty, [our] schools are no good, [we] have no jobs,’ and that we have nothing to lose by voting for him. We know better, and so does President Obama. What do we have to lose by voting for Trump? Everything. There is one way to stop Donald Trump and his dangerous and divisive agenda from ruining everything we’ve fought for: Go vote.”
Watch the full ad:
