The Campaign Ad That Could Defeat Trump

Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York “hush money” trial has prompted a big debate among Democrats. Should the Biden campaign lean into the conviction, hammering in the point that, for the first time, Americans may be about to elect a convicted felon as President? Or should they soft-pedal Trump’s legal woes (as they did during the trial), to avoid galvanizing his MAGA base by feeding the narrative that he is being targeted by Joe Biden and a politically motivated justice system?  

Count me as a strong advocate for Option 1. For one thing, it’s hard to see how anything the Democrats do or say could galvanize Trump’s rabid MAGA supporters any more than they already are. Plus, if the polls are correct, there’s at least a sliver of the electorate that says the conviction could sway their vote — and that’s the crowd the Dems need to target. The conviction, moreover, allows the Biden campaign to shift the focus squarely onto Trump, and what should be the paramount issue in the campaign: not inflation or the border, but whether we really want to put a deranged and dangerous wannabe-dictator back in the White House. 

About once every election cycle I like to put on my amateur political-consultant hat and give some unsolicited messaging advice to the Democrats. So here goes: my fantasy ad for the 2024 campaign, which uses the conviction to remind voters of all the Trump craziness they’ve apparently forgotten. I would run it, all or in pieces, over and over and over again. If the Dems can learn anything from the MAGA media’s relentless barrage of disinformation, it’s that flooding the zone is half the battle:  

Open with doomy music, shots of a glum-faced Donald Trump parading in and out of the courtroom. He looks haggard, angry, mean. 

NARRATOR: Can this man be trusted? [Clip of Trump claiming the 2020 election was “rigged and everybody knows it”]  

NARRATOR: He lost an election, and tried to overturn the results. [Shots of rioters storming the Capitol on January 6]  

NARRATOR: As President, he sent four years lying, blustering, and making ridiculous promises he couldn’t keep..  [Montage of clips: “Mexico will pay for the wall”; “I’ll have a health-care plan next week”; “The pandemic will go away,” etc.]

NARRATOR: He bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade, in a ruling that has opened the door to draconian new laws to restrict abortion.  [Headlines of state anti-abortion measures since the decision.]  

NARRATOR: He ran a White House that was in constant turmoil, and even his closest aides have turned against him. [Clips of Mike Pence, Bill Barr, etc. distancing themselves]

NARRATOR: And now, after a fair trial — in which he promised to testify, but then didn’t —a unanimous jury has found him guilty of illegally trying to cover up his affair with a porn star to win an election. His response? [Clip of Trump railing at the judge, jury, venue, prosecutor, evil people everywhere]  

NARRATOR: More bluster, grievances, and lies. He’s a desperate man, cornered and increasingly unhinged. He says he’s out for you. But now he’s only out for revenge. 

JOE BIDEN [talking to the camera — steady, serious, confident]: I believe a President’s job is to work for the American people — not to stoke fear, foment hate, and seek vengeance. I brought us out of the worst pandemic in a century. Created 14 million new jobs, more than twice as many as my predecessor. I will fight to stop anti-abortion extremists from continuing their assault on women’s rights. And I’ll protect our system of free elections and fair trials from those who simply can’t accept losing.

Let’s put the Trump chaos, craziness — and criminality — behind us. Let’s get back to sanity.

I’m Joe Biden, and I approve this message.