Influential Republican super PAC makes its return to boost Trump – Center for Responsive Politics

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After lying low for several election cycles, influential Republican super PAC American Crossroads is jumping into the 2020 presidential election to back President Donald Trump.

American Crossroads recently reported spending nearly $367,000 to support Trump in a 13-state text messaging campaign. The group placed its biggest bet of more than $89,000 in Florida, where presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is polling slightly ahead of Trump.

The super PACs early investment indicates that Trumps reelection bid may find support from outside groups that didnt back his 2016 run. American Crossroads spent $91 million to support Mitt Romney and oppose President Barack Obama in 2012. But it spent just $135,000 to oppose Hillary Clinton in 2016 and spent nothing to support Trump.

Masterminded by former White House strategist Karl Rove, American Crossroads shares its staff and offices with One Nation, a dark money nonprofit that supports Senate Republicans. One Nation spent more than $2.4 million on digital ads since June 2018 when Google and Facebook started disclosing online advertising data, according to OpenSecrets analysis of digital ad data.

Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is also part of the hub of conservative groups. Trump headlined a big-dollar fundraiser for the Senate Leadership Fund in November 2019. The super PAC has $52 million in the bank as party-tied groups prepare for expensive congressional election battles in November.

A lot has happened between American Crossroads declining to support Trump in the 2016 presidential race and the super PAC throwing its support behind him in the 2020 election. American Crossroads support of Trumps reelection comes three years after Trumps White House hiring of Mike Dubke, the co-founder of Crossroads Media LLC and Black Rock Group, American Crossroads and Senate Leadership Funds longtime vendors. Dubke served as Trumps communications director for 103 days in 2017 before making a full spin in the revolving door and returning to Black Rock, which continues to work for both super PACs in the 2020 election.

America First Action is the only super PAC that has Trumps stamp of approval to support his reelection campaign. The Trump campaign has disavowed many other super PACs that raise and spend political cash in his name. Political campaigns and outside groups are supposed to be independent of one another, but they often exploit loopholes to legally coordinate their efforts.

For its recent text messaging blitz, American Crossroads used Advantage Direct Communications, a firm specializing in voter contact and data services. The firms operation, which also includes Advantage Inc., had been a longtime vendor of the Republican National Committee and state Republican Party committees.

Trumps official super PAC, America First Action, also paid Advantage for polling expenses in 2018. The RNC paid Advantage for party-coordinated expenses promoting Trump in 2016 and another $639,000 for data services, phone services and voter registration during the 2020 election cycle. Trumps 2016 campaign paid Advantage Inc. for telemarketing services but neither the campaign nor its joint fundraising committees have reported any transactions with Advantage during the 2020 election cycle.

Voters who apply to use Advantages app through some state Republican party websites are informed that a Trump Victory Team Member will be in touch about the application.

Advantages app is used to facilitate so-called targeted multi-touch voter journeys by collecting data while targeting potential voters with calls, texts, emails and digital ads helping them to update their voter registration then urging them to support a specific candidate.

As traditional door-knocking efforts grind to a halt in light of COVID-19 lockdowns, Advantage revamped its menu of options for voter contact services tailored to capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic. A memo disseminated by Advantage says its team is testing best practices for peer-to-peer texts and phone banking to ensure there is no pandemic backlash, concluding that aggressive political messages and coronavirus themes are working.

American Crossroads did not make independent expenditures in the 2018 midterm cycle, but it continued to pay staff that also work for the Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation. The super PAC has only taken in a handful of contributions this cycle totaling $186,000 and reported having roughly $527,000 in the bank through March.

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Influential Republican super PAC makes its return to boost Trump - Center for Responsive Politics