Democrats will hang banners against Project 2025 during college football games

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have denounced this in hundreds of ads and billboards. printed it in oversized book form as a prop of a congress and mentioned it seemingly in every speech and press release.

Now they will continue their campaign against the conservative Blueprint of Project 2025written by Republican allies Donald Trumpin the sky above college football stadiums in key swing states.

Democratic National Committee -sponsored banners pulled by small planes will fly Saturday over Michigan Stadium, where the defending national champion Wolverines have a top-of-the-table game against Texas, as well as at Penn State and Wisconsin's home games. A banner scheduled to fly over Georgia's home game could be affected by weather.

Vice President Kamala Harris and their allies have been warning about Project 2025 for months, betting that the initiative would make Trump appear particularly extreme. More than 900 pages and produced by the conservative Cultural Heritage FoundationThe plan lays out how Trump could do everything in his second term, from Layoff of tens of thousands of federal employees from abolishing government ministries to imposing new restrictions on abortion and diversity initiatives.

Trump has refused a direct connection to Project 2025, although he also supports some of its core ideas.

The Democrats' move on Saturday is to spread their messages in stadiums that have a combined capacity of over 380,000, with tens of thousands more fans near each game.

“JD Vance 'loves' Ohio State + Project 2025,” reads the message plastered above Michigan Stadium, suggesting that Trump's running mate loves the project as much as Michigan's notoriously hated archrival.

In Wisconsin, which hosts South Dakota, the message is “Jump Around! Beat Trump + Project 2025,” a reference to the fans who jump so wildly that Camp Randall Stadium shakes when House of Pain's “Jump Around” plays between the third and fourth quarters.

Georgia, hosting Tennessee Tech, and Penn State in the Bowling Green clash, are receiving more and more generic messages urging fans to “beat Trump and bring down Project 2025.” However, due to weather conditions along the flight path, it is not clear whether the Georgia flag will fly.

The banners will begin flying about four hours before kickoff and could continue to fly during the game, depending on the decision of the flight attendants on site, said Abhi Rahman, deputy communications director for the DNC.

The airstrike comes on the heels of Harris' election campaign, and her party brings up Project 2025 several times a day, often unsolicited.

The DNC marked Labor Day by arguing that Project 2025 would undermine overtime rules and “hard-won” workers' rights. It also funded online ads about the initiative that appeared to users searching for “back to school.” Democrats have also referenced Project 2025 in seemingly inappropriate places, from pointing out that Vance was booed at a recent firefighters convention to criticizing Trump for attacking his perceived political enemies in online posts.

“We want people to know exactly what Project 2025 is and what its ties to Trump are,” Rahman said. “We're always trying to find creative ways to get the message out.”

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon warned that Harris' focus on Project 2025 “should not overshadow her positive message about the changes she seeks.”

“She cannot afford to exaggerate,” he said, “if it prevents her from developing her own personal profile.”

A large portion of Saturday's spectators are likely to support Trump. Many college football fans come from rural, Republican-leaning areas, far outside the boundaries of Democratic college towns.

“One of the really interesting things about political candidates trying to use sports as their advantage is that they put themselves at risk,” says Amy Bass, a professor of exercise science at Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York.

She pointed out that Trump was surprised to be booed when he attended Game 5 of the 2019 World Series – even though the former president also made largely successful visits to tailgate parties ahead of the Iowa-Iowa State football game in 2023 and when South Carolina hosted Clemson after last Thanksgiving.

Sports crowds “tend to be loud, and on top of that, there's pregame alcohol, partying in the street and all kinds of things going on, and that crowd is not targeted,” Bass said.

Rahman, however, dismissed such concerns.

“You can talk all you want about a banner,” he said. “But the message is definitely there. And it's there for a reason.”