American Bridge’s $140M Rural Voter Campaign Targets Swing Voters in Trump Strongholds

A Democratic super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, is rolling out a new $140 million ad campaign targeted at rural voters who have traditionally been staunch supporters of former President Donald Trump. The campaign will focus on swing voters in smaller media markets in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where it hopes to reach women who may be on the fence about voting. The ads, which form part of a wider $200 million effort to defeat Trump in the 2024 elections, will initially focus on abortion rights and healthcare access, with future ads addressing issues such as IVF, democracy, and freedom. Testimonials from voters will feature heavily, with the campaign claiming that first-person accounts are the most effective way to reach voters, particularly those who are turned off by politics and may not be closely following the election. The campaign has identified four types of swing voters it believes could be persuaded, including soft partisans, volatile voters, anti-MAGA conservatives, and “double doubters.” Women and voters from rural and exurban areas make up a large portion of these groups. American Bridge officials claim that Democrats have neglected rural voters in previous elections, instead focusing on turning out base voters in urban and suburban areas. However, they argue that “margins matter” in the key battleground states that are likely to decide the 2024 election. The campaign’s initial ads will feature voters such as Anna, a Wisconsin woman who tearfully recounts having to terminate a wanted pregnancy because the baby she was carrying would not survive, and Lori Cataldi, a nurse from central Pennsylvania who frets about the impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade on her daughter and granddaughter. Trump has historically enjoyed strong support from rural voters, with around 60% of voters in small towns and rural areas backing him in the 2020 election. This trend has persisted in the Republican primaries held in early voting states, where between 58% and 66% of voters from small towns and rural areas backed Trump. However, American Bridge claims that women have played a crucial role in saving democracy in previous elections, and argues that their campaign will help to convince swing voters to back the Democratic candidate.