As Donald Trump Soars, National Group Targets His General Election Vulnerability

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As new polling shows former U.S. president Donald Trump solidifying his position as the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, a major national push is underway to undercut his advantage.

The gist of this push? That Trump cannot win a general election. And that nominating him next year would equate to four more years of U.S. president Joe Biden.

AFP Action – a national conservative grassroots organization – is dropping a new digital ad campaign in four early-voting presidential primary states targeting Trump’s perceived vulnerability in a general election. The new ads will begin airing today (August 1, 2023) in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and “First in the South” Carolina.

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Trump leads in all four of these pivotal, early-voting states by sizable margins, according to the latest polls. However, Florida governor Ron DeSantis – the only Trump rival drawing double-digit GOP support – has narrowed the gap in New Hampshire.

All told, an estimated $1 million will be plowed into the campaign – which will include a mix of 15-second spots (here and here), 30-second spots (here and here) as well as a six-second placeholder (here).

“If Trump is the nominee he will lose again,” the narrator in one of the spots intones. “We watched him lose the House, lose the White House, the Senate – and now we risk losing it all over again. Trump could mean losing more than just an election.”

Take a look …

(Click to View)

“Americans have had enough of holding their nose to vote against an unpopular candidate,” said AFP Action senior advisor Candace Carroll. “They want someone they can vote FOR. Someone who’s focused on the future and understands the policies that will make life better for Americans — regardless of where they live. AFP-Action’s new ads are a reminder that South Carolinians have a part to play in setting that course. And it starts with new candidates with sound policy solutions.”

AFP-Action’s new ads certainly have their work cut out for them …

According to the latest composite polling data from RealClearPolitics, Trump leads DeSantis by a whopping 35.7 percentage points nationally – and by similarly large margins in Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina. Those numbers have generated concern within DeSantis’ campaign – and prompted some of his major donors to seek out other alternatives to Trump.

The AFP-Action ads are dropping just three weeks before GOP hopefuls take the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for an August 23, 2023 debate which will be televised nationally on Fox News. Candidates have until August 21, 2023 to hit certain fundraising and polling thresholds – and to decide whether they will sign a GOP “loyalty pledge” which would compel them to endorse the eventual GOP nominee.

As of this writing, Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum have all qualified for the debate – although Trump hasn’t said if he will participate. Former vice president Mike Pence is also expected to qualify.

Republican presidential hopefuls will face voters for the first time in the Iowa Caucus on January 15, 2024. New Hampshire’s primary comes eight days later (January 23, 2024) followed by South Carolina and Nevada on February 24, 2024.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR ...

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.

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