Thursday, May 14, 2020

These TV ads could cost Trump 30 million votes

The potential impact of seniors abandoning Trump in November is enormous.

Dear MoveOn member,

One of the most reliable Republican voting blocs in the country is seniors—but newly released polling shows that Donald Trump's botched coronavirus response may cause that support to crumble under his feet.

These stunning new polls show that just between March and April, Trump's approval rating among seniors dropped a whopping 14 points, and notably, the percentage of seniors who say they are "very favorable" to Trump has dropped to just 20%, the lowest of his presidency.1

This shift could not be more important. In 2016, voters over age 50 represented more than half of the electorate, and the majority of these voters voted for Trump.2 If he loses a significant portion of that support, it will be the death knell for his campaign.

We can't let this golden opportunity pass us by, which is why MoveOn's teams are working overtime to put together TV ads that will air during peak times when seniors watch television, highlighting Trump's failures during the coronavirus pandemic, his attempts to use the pandemic to shut down the United States Postal Service, and more.

On average, MoveOn's monthly donors chip in about $12 a month. Can you chip in $12 a month to help us launch our ads and keep them on the air for as long as it takes?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

The potential impact of seniors abandoning Trump in November is enormous.

Voters over 65 will represent 23% of the entire electorate this November, the largest since 1970.3 If turnout numbers are similar to those in 2016, that is a whopping 30 million votes.4

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won 44% of the senior vote, but if Democrats can just win 50% of that voting bloc in 2020, it would be a total game-changer.5

And seniors have reasons to abandon Trump. People over 65 are the most at risk for serious complications from contracting the coronavirus, and Trump's monumental failure to lead during this moment is endangering their lives more than any other age group's.

Seniors also rely more on the Postal Service than any other age group, and Trump has been actively trying to bankrupt the USPS during the pandemic.6

And, most recently, Trump and the GOP have hatched a cruel plan to force Americans who receive coronavirus relief payments to pay them back through delaying those citizens' access to Social Security benefits.7

These are just a few of the reasons why Trump's approval with seniors has plummeted in recent weeks, but we need to hammer this message home to these folks to help keep Trump's actions to hurt seniors top of mind when they head to the polls.

Mar: Will you help us spread the word by chipping in $12 a month to get our TV ads on the air during peak hours when seniors will see them and keep them up for as long as it takes? (The average gift from a MoveOn monthly donor is about $12 a month, but whatever you can afford will go a long way.)

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Jenn, Kenia, Emma, Allison, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Trump's Favorability Falls Among Seniors Amidst Pandemic," PRRI, May 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/124726?t=6&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

2. "An examination of the 2016 electorate, based on validated voters," Pew Research Center, August 9, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/124730?t=8&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

3. "An early look at the 2020 electorate," Pew Research Center, January 30, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/124734?t=10&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

4. "2016 United States presidential election," Wikipedia, accessed May 14, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/124735?t=12&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

5. "An examination of the 2016 electorate, based on validated voters," Pew Research Center, August 9, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/124730?t=14&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

6. "Trump threatens to block aid for U.S. Postal Service if it does not raise prices for Amazon," Reuters, April 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/125026?t=16&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

7. "Column: Republicans seek to exploit COVID-19 crisis to cut Social Security benefits," Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/124718?t=18&akid=264114%2E10220574%2E3GKB2Y

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on May 14, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

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