Dem
50
GOP
50
Many political ads feature the candidate saying something positive about himself or herself or something negative about the opponent. But quite a few of the Democratic ads this year are different. The candidate is not in them at all. Here is an example of one running full-blast in North Carolina:
Nominally, it is an ad for AG Josh Stein (D), who is running for governor, but Stein isn't in the ad. It is an ad against all Republicans in the state since the Democrats are trying to tar all Republicans with Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R-NC). The Democrats are quite serious about the ad. They are spending millions of dollars to run it on television and digitally.
In five states, Democratic Senate candidates are running similar ads. In them, a woman speaks to the camera and says she wanted to have a baby. However, her doctor told her that the baby would not survive and she might not either unless she had an abortion, which was illegal in her state. The ads are gut wrenching, which is the idea, of course. These are not women who, to quote Robinson, "were not responsible enough to keep your skirt down." The women wanted the baby very much, but it was malformed and wouldn't survive, and in some cases, neither would the mother absent an abortion. This kind of ad may come to define the 2024 election cycle, especially if the candidates running them all win. (V)