OUR ADS FOR 2024
WE DELIVER WHAT’S MOST NEEDED NOW:
POWERFUL NEW MESSAGING FOR DEMOCRATS
OUR ADS FOR 2024
© 2020 – 2024 Congress Majority PACFor the 2024 election, improved messaging is what Democrats need most.
ABOUT OUR AD SCRIPTS BELOW
First, it’s understood that the political ad agency we work with will reimagine the scripts below. Longer videos will be posted in social media, and 30 and 60 second versions for broadcast will be created and tested.
Each ad will focus on one issue, while some will take a wider view. We’ll make a clear and reasonable case that Republicans are extremist and dangerous to our nation, and have caused gridlock for political gain. One issue per ad, our ads on the economy, immigration, gun control, climate change, and Roe make a compelling case to elect Democrats.
To be sure, Harris-Walz is the good cop, but seizing the moment and having a bad cop could help Democrats win a majority in both Houses.
Our spot on immigration lets voters know that Republicans killed the strongest immigration bill in decades only for political gain. Our ad on the economy points out that America prospered under Clinton, but George Bush deregulated the banks and caused the financial collapse of 2008. Obama took over with the economy in a major crisis, and led the nation back to a strong economy. But when Biden succeeded Trump, the economy was again in a major crisis, but the Democrats’ policies saw the stock market rise to historic highs. Conclusion: guided by pragmatism, the policies of Democratic Presidents lead to prosperity, but the policies of Republicans, guided by an oversimplistic “don’t regulate” ideology, lead to economic crisis.
CMPAC’s ads will be reasonable in tone, centrist, and not strident. We never forget who our target audience is: swing voters. The kindly grandfather actor who hosted our 2018 ads sent the right message.
That said, we’d like to think big and invite President Obama, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Swift, George Clooney, or Oprah to host, but only one or two of these ads. An unknown actor may be more effective; that will be up to the ad agency.
Every ad will end with the title, Vote Democrat.
We’ll be nimble: during a heat wave, we’ll run our powerful climate change ads.
In the days following a school shooting, we’ll run our moving gun control ads. Our ads about inflation, the economy, immigration, and Roe do not need an event.
The ads below are intended for broadcast, funds permitting, and digital versions will be placed on Twitter, Facebook, and other advertising platforms. We’ll also use broadcast text messaging.
We envision major ad buys in tossup races and battleground States; ads will be tested with focus groups before they run. Taken together, our powerful ads can propel Democrats into a majority in both Houses.
By now there is little doubt about the effectiveness of attack ads: they help candidates win elections. It’s CMPAC’s opinion that the Democrats’ past reluctance to attack Republicans as a group has made them look weak, while the repeated attacks on Democrats by Republican politicians and pundits has made them appear strong. It’s time to fight fire with fire.
The Harris campaign may be following the new idea that people vote more with their intuition about a candidate’s humanity than with their knowledge of the candidate’s policies. A new study showing evidence of this was presented by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on GPS, August 11, 2024. This may explain why Harris has chosen to project hope and joy to voters, and initially offered less substantive discussion of her policies. It worked for her in the polls.
However, Congress Majority PAC is needed to play the Bad Cop to the Harris-Walz’ approach, and attack Republicans as a group. It’s clear that we are not going to sing kumbaya with the GOP in the short term. Biden looked weak when he called for unity, and some key elements of Biden’s agenda did not pass. It was a victory for Republicans.
We need to win in November, and we can. Trump blasts Democrats at every turn, and many Republican politicians follow his lead. His base listens and becomes motivated.
Most Democrats in Congress will not attack Republicans as a group. Congress Majority PAC’s ads are needed to do that.
In recent years, a dominant Republican strategy has been to unite in order to stop Democrats from passing any legislation. That’s a key part of their strategy, and worked for them. To counter this, one of our best ads calls attention to the gridlock they’ve caused for political gain. We point out that Democrats have been willing to compromise, but Republicans have not. Gridlock follows, and much-needed laws, like immigration reform last February, do not get passed. This ad ends by telling voters, “Let’s end the gridlock, and get Washington working again. Vote Democrat.”
SUMMARY: We can win over undecided voters and possibly many more, but only if strong, clear messaging is used. Reasonable attack ads like the ones in script form below will light the way. Millions of swing voters and disillusioned non-voters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will rally behind our ads, and many who see them will turn out and vote Democrat.
We should seize this moment, when Republicans are vulnerable, and act. Congress Majority PAC’s ads can help Democrats take a majority in both Houses in November.
Our current scripts follow below. Again, these are drafts, and they will be reimagined and shortened by our political ad agency when we are funded.
NOTE: Every ad below is fully copyrighted 2020 – 2024 by Patrick Reynolds. These ad concepts may not be copied. We stand ready to work together, and would welcome your support and collaboration.
Scripts for our 2024 video spots for digital and broadcast media
AD: THE ECONOMY
Summary: Democrats are smarter managers of the economy, based on the nation’s prosperity under Clinton, Obama, and Biden. Ideally, Obama will host.
While the host speaks, we see videos and news sound bites related to the events he mentions. We’ll see a TV news clip from a story about the boom under Clinton, a new anchor saying, “Clinton is using the budget surplus to pay down debt,” and a news story heralding the longest sustained economic boom in US history. Then we see a clip from another news story: Bush deregulates the banks, and a news anchor talking about the financial collapse of 2008. Next we see Obama signing his economic rescue bill, passed in early 2009, then we see TV anchor talking about the surging economy under Obama.
When the host mentions Trump, we see his image, and a news headlines about the economy in crisis. We see video of Biden signing a bill to bolster the economy, and then more news headlines like, “Unemployment at 4.9%,” “Inflation at 2.5%%,” and last, a story about the stock market reaching an all-time high. These news clips will tell the story as the host speaks. As long as they remain under 8 seconds, the Right of Fair Use allows us to use most of these TV news clips and headlines.
DRAFTHOST:
Which Party is better for the economy? Under Democrat Bill Clinton, America had 8 years of sustained prosperity. But George Bush deregulated the banks, and that led to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown of 2008.
Obama took office with the economy on the brink of collapse, but he and his new Democratic majorities soon passed bills that brought the economy roaring back.
Then came Trump and Covid, and Biden took office with the economy again in crisis.
Republicans’ adherence to a don’t-regulate ideology has resulted in financial crises again and again.
Democrats give us case-by-case, pragmatic solutions that solve our problems. Biden brought inflation to 2.5% without causing a recession, created over 15 million new jobs, and the stock market set a record.
For a thriving economy and smarter, better government, vote Democrat.
Fade up title card:
Vote Democrat
A longer, digital version of this ad will include the following:
Even the crash of 1929 was brought on by President Coolidge, a Republican ideologue who loosened credit, allowing many to buy stocks on margin. The Great Depression was prolonged by another Republican ideologue, President Hoover, who stubbornly believed in austerity, since tax revenue had dwindled.
In 1933 Democrat Franklin Roosevelt took office and passed the New Deal. It was a huge expansion of government spending focused on providing jobs for Americans and eradicating poverty — and Democrat FDR’s policy and vision is today credited with bringing the nation back from the Depression, and restoring the economy.
Democrats Obama and Biden passed policy that brought the nation back from the brink as well.
History repeats itself, and voters need to be reminded of who caused the economic crises, and who fixed the problems.
AD: INFLATION
Summary: Both Republicans and Democrats share the blame, but Democrats create smarter policy.
In the first seconds of this ad, we see titles scrolling up behind the host, illustrating the debt percentage increase of ten US Presidents, with their names in blue or red by Party. To see the list with this data, click here. Our ad agency will add other graphics during the ad.
DRAFT – HOST:
Here are the facts about inflation. Trump increased our national debt by 33%, and Biden increased it by 9%. Both Republicans and Democrats share responsibility for inflation. The question is, who’s more likely to fix the problem?
Inflation is caused by deficit spending and strong demand for goods. Complex problems like inflation require more than a simplistic don’t-tax the rich, don’t-regulate formula.
Democrats know we need need less ideology and more pragmatism from our leaders in Congress. They know that today’s problems require carefully crafted, case-by-case solutions.
Under President Biden, inflation dropped to 2.5% without causing a recession, over 16 million jobs were created, and the stock market reached a historic high.
There is still work to do, but Democrats will do it the right way, and have a long track record of developing successful fiscal policies.
For smart government and a stronger economy, vote Democrat. And this time, vote.
Fade up title card in silence:
Vote Democrat
AD: IMMIGRATION
In his October 2, 2022 My Take for CNN, Fareed Zakaria pointed out that Biden must fix immigration, or the US may one day veer to the far Right. He points out that Sweden and Italy both accepted waves of immigrants from Syria and other nations, and their liberal immigration policies caused the collapse of voter support for the Center-Left. Immigration helped elect far-right leaders in both nations; the one in Italy even had a connection to Fascism. Since 2022, Europe has seen the rise of more far-right leaders.
Zacaria concluded that the Biden administration would do well to take the immigration issue seriously. The immigration crisis will help Republicans win, unless a message like the one below can be widely seen.
SUMMARY: Democrats voted for a strong bipartisan immigration bill in February, 2024, but Trump called Republicans in Congress to kill it. Our ad below attacks Republicans for allowing the immigration crisis to fester for purely political reasons.
WATCH this new video of our immigration spot. It brings the script below to life nicely. We hope to raise enough funds to produce our other spots as well, and to put our business plan in motion. We have a great team standing by that includes a seasoned political ad agency and a top Democratic strategist. They are ready to go to work, and we can have our ads running in battleground States by the first week of October.
SCRIPT
We see various video clips of Congress, exterior and interior. We see a montage of news headlines like, “Senate Passes Strong Immigration Bill” (February 2024) and “House Republicans Kill Immigration Bill.” “Strongest immigration bill in decades”, “Trump urges House to vote no.”
Other titles flash or scroll up what the bill would have done: Added 1500 new border agents – End catch and release by adding new judges to process asylum claims faster – and so on.
Against these titles, we see footage of the immigration crisis: long lines of immigrants in a caravan, families crossing the Rio Grand river with children, crowds massed against the border wall, and close ups of desperate faces seeking to enter the US.
[V.O.]
In February the Senate passed the strongest immigration bill in decades. Even though the bill contained much of what Republicans have long wanted, they feared the bipartisan bill would show Democrats as strong on immigration. So House Republicans killed the bill, and the crisis at the border continues.
If Democrats win in November, they’ll pass the bill that House Republicans killed. Democrats want to fix the border crisis.
With a Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress, Washington will start working again. But with a divided government, Republicans will keep causing gridlock for political gain, and good bills will not get passed. America can’t afford that.
In this election, Vote Democrat — and this time, vote.
Vote Democrat.
Title card:
Vote Democrat
CLIMATE CHANGE
We open with a montage of videos of hurricanes, floods, forest fires, tornados, and parched resevoirs. News anchors reporting on weather events; a quick sound bite about climate change from a national anchor like David Muir or Lester Holt will add weight. A quick cut of Donald Trump saying, “Climate change is a hoax.” Then we see Obama saying at the DNC, “Climate change is not a hoax.”
During this the VO below starts.
More video: we see a clip of Congress, the House floor, and Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. A headline floats by: Democrats pass major climate, health and corporate tax bill
AI-generated headlines outlining the bill’s points appear:
$369 billion to address climate change and energy security
Extends the Affordable Care Act
Allows Medicare to negotiate drug price
15% corporate minimum tax
Estimated $300 billion deficit reduction
We see video of Biden signing the bill.
Two news headlines come up onscreen in quick succession:
– Biden Signs Inflation Reduction Act into Law
– Not a Single Republican Voted for the Climate Bill
Fade to black.
VO:
(Times at 42 seconds.)In 2022, every Democrat in Congress voted for the Climate Change bill. The Inflation Reduction Act is the strongest bill ever passed to combat climate change.
It boosted America’s energy security and our capacity to generate clean energy, extended the Affordable Care Act, let Medicare negotiate drug prices, and started a corporate minimum tax of 15%.
Not one Republican voted for the bill. In 2023, the earth had its hottest year in 100,000 years.
Republicans – wrong for our future, and wrong for America. Help save our planet. Vote Democrat.
SILENT CLOSING TITLE as we hear wind blowing.
TITLE: Not one Republican voted for the bill.
FADE UP UNDER TITLE ABOVE: Vote Democrat
AD: SAVE DEMOCRACY
Our next ad also appeals to Americans’ love of Democracy and freedom. Republicans have used Democracy in their stump speeches, and it’s time for Democrats to do the same, and run ads like the ones below. Here’s a news article asking why more Democratic candidates aren’t running on Democracy.
We see video clips of Republicans speaking against certifying the election, and perhaps footage from January 6th. Our strategist and ad agency will know best. After the clips, we go to our host:
VO: Following the election of 2020, 139 House Republicans voted against certifying Biden as President, even though they knew Trump had lost. They failed to overturn the election that time, but what happens if Republicans have enough seats in January? This time they may succeed. A vote for Republicans is a vote to weaken our nation. You can help save our Democracy. Vote Democrat — and this time, vote.
Fade up title:
Vote Democrat.
GUN CONTROL
This ad could run shortly after the next major mass shooting. Our strategist will weigh in on timing and the feasibility of this.
School shootings move voters. In May, 2022, Uvalde marked the nation’s 215th mass shooting that year. By July the number had passed 300. Mass shootings have continued.
Gun-loving Trump followers are never going to vote Democrat, but they are not the target audience. We’re after moderates, non-voters, and the undecided, especially the young in urban areas. I believe our ad on gun control will motivate many of them to vote Democrat.
DRAFT – AD 1
60 seconds – A 30 second version can also be made.
This gun control ad uses only video news clips, graphics, and voiceover. We see and hear a Democrat speaking in favor of banning assault weapons or raising the gun purchase age to 21. We see Republican Ted Cruz and others speaking in Congress. We see clips from news footage of mass shootings in schools, and finally, at the end, the faces of the children who died.
VO: It’s a lie to say Democrats want to ban guns. The truth is, Democrats have fought for a few common sense measures — stronger background checks, a ban on assault rifles, and raising the purchase age to 21. But Republicans, fearful of losing votes, have blocked these. History will judge them for it.
How many mass shootings will it take? Give Democrats a majority in both Houses in Congress, and they will get it done.
Fade up title in silence:
Vote Democrat
DRAFT – AD FOR 2026
This ad may be produced for the mid-term election in 2026 if our strategist agrees. It begins short clips from real news interviews with victims of mass shootings, especially at schools.
Parents who lost children may also be reachable through Facebook groups or organizations some of them started. We would disclose in the first call that this is for an ad for Democrats. Some may be willing to appear in our ad and make cell phone videos with quotes along the lines of the ones below. We would have them sign releases, and instruct them over Zoom during filming about lighting and holding the camera steady.
News clips may be enough; our ad agency should be able to access the vast database of local and national TV news video clips which TV reporters have subscriptions to, and search for real people saying things like the following:
FATHER: I lost my son in Uvalde.
MOTHER: My daughter was murdered in Highland Park.
CHILD: I lost my Dad.
CHILD: My Mom went to heaven.
CHILD: I lost three classmates in Sandy Hook
MOTHER: I lost my son in Columbine.
FATHER: Why don’t they do something?
We fade to black but the voices continue. Finally we hear a child.
CHILD: When is Mommy coming home?
In silence, these titles fade up in silence:
TITLE: In July, 2022 Senate Republicans refused to raise the purchase age from 18 to 21 for semi-automatic weapons.
Fade up in silence:
TITLE: They also refused to ban the sale of assault weapons.
Fade up in silence or with the sound of wind blowing:
TITLE: Vote Democrat
OUR FIRST PRODUCED TV SPOT
Good leaders, Bad Leaders
View our first produced TV spot, Good Leaders, Bad Leaders, at the top of our 2018 ads page. It’s compelling and powerful, and was never aired. It’s no longer at the top of our list, but it has a strong first 6 seconds that will entice many YouTubers to watch the entire 60 second ad, instead of clicking on Skip Ad. In 2024 it still has potential to bring more swing voters to the Democratic side.
ROE V. WADE
Our strategist and ad agency will develop these ads, or change them. Ad 1 has a teenage girl telling a personal story, and Ad 2 uses voiceover while the narrator speaks.
Ad 1 – Roe
We see a 16 year old white teenage girl played by a professional actress, talking directly into the camera. She’s living in poverty, alone in a shabby room. We see a baby sleeping on the bed behind her. She looks depressed and angry, at times on the verge of tears.
Girl, looking into camera: I got pregnant and my boyfriend left. I tried to go out of state to end my pregnancy, but I couldn’t get the money. Someone said I should have him, and after he was born, I couldn’t bear to give him up. Now I’m alone, taking government money. My dreams of college seem like a distant memory. I work at a job I hate.
My life got really hard.
It didn’t have to be this way.
She turns away to tend to her baby and sings softly to him.
Fade to black but her singing continues, and we hear her begin to sob, quietly.
Fade to black. White titles come up one by one on a black screen, as the sound of her crying fades.
[TITLE CARD:]With enough Democrats in Congress, Roe can be made the law of the land.
Fade up title in silence:
Vote Democrat
Ad 2 – Roe
We see a teenage girl in poverty, holding her baby and singing softly to her child. She does not look into camera, and says nothing the entire ad. We hear only the VO:
VO (female) No one likes abortion. [pause]
But forcing motherhood on a woman is worse.
In many states, a woman’s right to choose is gone, thanks to Republicans.
How many teenage girls, emotionally unable to give up their babies for adoption, will drop out of school and spend years on welfare, living in poverty, supported by taxpayers?
With 60 seats in the Senate and a majority in the House, Democrats will make a woman’s right to choose the law of the land.
Vote Democrat — and this time, vote.
Fade up title in silence:
Vote Democrat
AD: WHO’S THE EXTREMIST?
SUMMARY: Trump and Republican lawmakers are too extremist for our country. It’s a mistake for Dems to rely only on Roe to make this point. We’ve included two moving ads devoted to Roe on this page, but this one aims to convince voters of Republicans’ far-Right extremism.
DRAFT
For this ad, if a celebrity is used, President Obama would be our first choice.
We see news clips of Republican members making extreme statements, sound bites of Donald Trump speaking, and Liz Cheney and Adam Kitzinger speaking against their party and Trump. We’ll utilize the right of “Fair Use” for these.
[INSERT NEWS CLIPS] Quick video cuts of Trump saying, “Kamala Harris is a far-left lunatic,” “She’s an extremist!”
HOST/OBAMA: (Pauses, then:)
Wait. Who’s the real extremist here?[INSERT NEWS CLIP]
We see Trump telling a Christian group, “You wont have to vote anymore.” Next we see Liz Cheney calling Trump an extremist and a danger to democracy in a news interview, and similar statements she made during the January 6 hearings. We see a clip from Adam Kinzinger’s persuasive speech at the Democratic National Convention.
HOST/OBAMA: [If it’s Obama, cut the first half of the following line and start with, The reality is… ]
Thanks to Fox News, Donald Trump, and Republicans in Congress, the reality is, the Republican party has taken a hard right turn, while Democrats have moved to the center.
[CLIPS:] Quick cuts of far-Right Republican lawmakers, including JD Vance and others, repeating Trump’s lie that the election was stolen, and other extremist positions.
HOST/OBAMA:
Instead of telling voters what they really think of Trump, nearly all Republicans in Congress bent the knee and enabled him.
[INSERT NEWS CLIP] Liz Cheney says something similar to: “History will see them as cowards who dishonored themselves.”
HOST/OBAMA:
Democrats are not extremists. Most of the extremists these days are Republicans — and they’re dangerous to our Democracy.
[INSERT NEWS CLIP] A news anchor says, “139 House Republicans voted not to certify the election.”
HOST/OBAMA:
If Republicans win a majority this time, will they overturn the upcoming election? What happens to our democracy then?Fade up title card in silence:
Vote Democrat
AD: REPUBLICANS: KISSING THE RING, ENABLING TRUMP AND HIS BIG LIE
This ad will include video clips of Trump being welcomed by Republican lawmakers in Congress, and clips of Liz Cheny and Mitch McConnell speaking out against the former President. Clips will be pulled using our news clip subscription of video coverage of Trump’s first return to Capitol Hill since January 6th on June 13, 2024. We’ll also include clips of Mitch McConnel and Liz Cheny speaking the quotes below.
DRAFT
[VO:]
Many Republican lawmakers in Congress are not telling voters how they really feel about Donald Trump. In private, many agree he lied about winning the election, and that he incited the January 6th insurrection.
[INSERT CLIP] Mitch McConnell speaking in Congress: “Mr. Trump is responsible for January 6th.” Also INSERT CLIP of Liz Cheny speaking during the January 6th hearings, or Adam Kitzinger speaking at the DNC.
[V.O. ] When Republican leaders started publicly parroting Trump’s lie, they became liars themselves — and threw away their principals and honor. [This can be replaced with a line from Kitzinger’s DNC speech.]
[CLIPS:] Quick cuts of Republican lawmakers repeating Trump’s lie that the election was stolen.
[VO:] Trump threatened to destroy the political careers of those who failed to support him. Instead of telling voters what they really think of Trump, nearly all of them bent the knee, enabled him, and dishonored themselves forever. History will see them as cowards who threw away their integrity. Most Republicans in Congress have not told voters what they really think of Trump.
INSERT CLIP, Liz Cheny: “History will remember the shame of leaders like Mitch McConnel who enabled Trump.”
[VO:] Republicans in Congress have dishonored themselves by lying to voters to stay in power. America cannot afford to have liars, cowards, and dishonest leaders in Congress. Save our Democracy, and vote Democrat.
Fade up title card in silence:
Vote Democrat
AD: STOP THE STEAL, REPUBLICANS
This ad and the next one appeal to the deep love of Democracy and freedom shared by all Americans, especially Republicans, who together with swing voters are the ad’s target audience. We’ll rely on our strategist to rewrite this ad, if needed:
VO: Was the last election stolen? No. The real steal is by Republican State legislators, who have been gerrymandering districts and passing flagrant voter suppression laws to help Republicans steal elections.
In Congress, Republicans refused to pass the election reform bill. Like Trump, they’ll do anything to stay in power.
Stop the steal. Vote Democrat in November, and save our Democracy. And this time, vote.
Fade up title:
Vote Democrat.