RNC touts diversity in new ad campaign

by Ben Kamisar - 01/07/16 3:05 PM ET

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has launched a $300,000 ad campaign showing off its attempt to broaden the party’s diversity ahead of the 2016 elections.

The ads include five 30-second spots that will air around Jan. 14, when the party plans to hold a presidential debate in South Carolina, as well as online throughout the first quarter of 2016.

They highlight new additions to the party’s Republican Leadership Initiative, launched last year as the party’s field program across the country. The RNC has trained 1,000 people under that program to assist party staffers in actions including holding house parties, volunteer recruitment, and registering voters.

Those digital ads will target potential new recruits to the program.

“Our effort to win the White House is fueled by the diverse and unique personal stories that motivate each and every individual to get involved in the political process,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.

“The RNC is going neighborhood by neighborhood, to listen to these stories from across the country and harness the energy behind each individual’s inspiration for wanting to make our country a better place. We only win the White House by joining together to take a leading role in our communities, and we want to share the stories of those who are already making that effort and encouraging others to do the same.”

The ads include members of the initiative such as a Hispanic first-generation college graduate from Colorado, a 9/11 firefighter in New York, a mother of an autistic child in Florida, an activist in Florida, and a mentor in New York whose parents immigrated from Haiti. The video with the Colorado member also airs in Spanish.

The GOP has stepped up efforts to broaden its base since the party lost the 2012 presidential election, in part, by ceding the vast majority of minority voters to the Democratic Party. Some Republicans have cautioned that presidential front-runner Donald Trump has the potential to damage those efforts with his controversial comments on immigrants, women and Muslims.

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