Club for Growth plans $5M in ads to back Trump’s Supreme Court nominee
September 23, 2020
The conservative group Club for Growth is preparing to spend at least $5 million to help Republicans push through a Supreme Court pick before Election Day.
The slate of national digital and TV ads in specific states, which the group plans to unveil next week, will support whomever President Donald Trump picks as his judicial nominee. Trump has promised to make the announcement on Saturday afternoon, with Amy Coney Barrett widely viewed within Republican and conservative circles as the frontrunner candidate. She spent time with Trump at the White House on both Monday and Tuesday, according to a Republican close to the administration.
Some of the Club for Growth ads will play in states with competitive Senate races, including Alabama and Montana. The goal is to target Democrats who will oppose the pick, while also ensuring that other key Republican senators remain supportive of the nominee throughout the confirmation process.
Club for Growth’s president, David McIntosh, said the $5 million buy exceeded the group’s typical issue-oriented ad spending by three to four times. On the repeal of Obamacare, for instance, the group spent $1.5 million.
“We have already started engaging grassroots conservatives to call for a vote before the election, and we are delighted by the progress,” McIntosh told POLITICO.
Spending on both the left and the right is expected to skyrocket this fall during the confirmation process. Already the right-leaning Judicial Crisis Network has vowed to spend more than $2 million on ads related to the Supreme Court pick; the Club for Growth money adds to the amount of spending done by conservative groups. On the left, ActBlue raised more than $100 million between the announcement of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on Friday, and Sunday afternoon.
The upcoming Supreme Court fight is expected to energize donors and outside groups within both parties.
Club for Growth is particularly interested in the outcome of the nomination because the court decides so many cases related to regulations, health care, taxes and tariffs, the group’s primary focus. McIntosh said Republicans’ failure to confirm a Trump nominee would “almost be a death sentence for them in keeping the majority.”
The ads, which are still being developed, will talk about the need for another conservative justice on the court, as well as the need for Republicans to support the nominee. Club for Growth is working closely with several other conservative groups to bolster whomever Trump picks, including the Judicial Crisis Network, the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
