In a digital ad push that begins Friday morning, HillaryClinton’s aides are indulging a hypothetical that campaigns often avoid: the possibility that the opposition could win.
The ad, which an aide said is being promoted on social media and through paid digital advertising, imagines the cable news headlines of a future under President Donald Trump.
Fear of the GOP presidential nominee has been, perhaps, the primary motivating factor for many Clinton voters. But this spot seems more about targeting those who are nonchalant over the significance of their vote or, really, about the election entirely. And it’s not difficult to imagine that the ad’s creators had the Brexit referendum in mind when putting it together.
There was general shock at the results in June, when most people voted for the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. That was followed by news reports of “leave” voters quicklyregretting their decision. Several were quoted as saying they’d assumed the “remain” camp would prevail and wanted merely to send a message.
The Trump campaign has often pointed to the Brexit result as proof that an un-anticipated surge in support ― not caught by pollsters ― could come for the Republican nominee. The Clinton campaign is telling voters to recognize the consequences of not taking that seriously.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.