5 Things I'm Watching on the Content Front
Doomscroll 10.19.2025
Hello and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll - your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right. Let’s get those thumbs ready for some doomscrolling.
This week’s Doomscroll is sponsored by WinRed.
Thank you to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about whether it was weird AF that Democrat AG candidate Jay Jones kept posting through his “murder text” scandal as if nothing had happened. I have some breaking news. 50% of you said yes, and 50% of you said no. Glad we’re on the same page! For those of you who said it’s not weird, why are you the way that you are? Just kidding.
Anywho, someone provided this piece of advice for candidates in this situation:
Keep your head down, focus on positive messages and local events, and hope time runs out before your opponent can tell everyone what you said. Let’s face it - very few voters care about the Attorney General. They now have one reason to care, but only if the story gets big enough. By going low-key you allow attention to naturally shift off your race and back to the Governor. Jones wins if people are not talking about him or his race.
I get that, but what about when the genie’s already out of the bottle? The cat’s out of the bag? When you realize you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube? (ok I’ll stop now). People are already talking about it. These days, you can’t put out one statement or do one little interview and expect to be done. I’m sorry; you just can’t. It’s like my momma always said: you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control your reaction. If you want to shift the story off of what happened and on to how you responded, then how you respond has to be EVERYTHING YOU DO. Those are my thoughts, anyway. Not that anyone’s asking.
Ok, this week’s One Question is about in-state donors and Nancy Mace. Last week I read, with interest, the coverage around fundraising totals for the gubernatorial candidates in South Carolina. I even mentioned it briefly in the Grapevine last week. One thing that repeatedly got mentioned and called out was the percentage of Nancy Mace’s donors that were in-state. Like this:
Mace’s campaign highlighted having the most individual contributions, significantly outpacing other candidates in donor volume. While Evette, Wilson and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman combined for approximately 2,300 individual donations, Mace recorded nearly 20,000 individual contributions.
Of Mace’s contributions, nearly 18,000 were donations of less than $50. Only about 1,600 came from South Carolina residents, and removing duplicates brings that number to approximately 900, less than 5% of her total contributions. However, this still represents more individual donations from South Carolinians than any other candidate received.
Ok, let’s get some things out of the way. Yes, Mace’s donor volume puts the others to shame. Yes, she has more donors in South Carolina than her competitors. But here’s my question: When you have 20,000 individual contributions and less than 5% of those are from the state you are seeking to become governor of…is that a bad thing? Does it matter? Is it totally irrelevant at this stage? I know what some people think. I definitely know what Nancy Mace thinks.
And hey…don’t let opinions of Mace get in the way here. In fact, take her totally out of it. If Hans Kristoff is running for Governor of Arendelle and he has the most donors out of anyone, but only about 5% (some reports cite 8%) of them are actually from Arendelle, is that a problem even if he’s leading in terms of volume? Our entire argument has always been that small-dollar donors are a barometer of grassroots support that will translate into votes on Election Day. Having a broad donor base around the country is fantastic. Good for Mace; that’s not easy to do as a member of Congress. But how many of those donors are from revshares? How many are on her actual house file? If the vast majority of your donors can’t vote for you, what does it matter other than that they will (hopefully) just continue to funnel money into your campaign? What about your constituency at home? These are questions that are legit and asking them doesn’t undermine the strength of her program. They’re just questions that every campaign and vendor should be asking.
The hilarious thing in all of this is I probably wouldn’t even be talking about it tonight if Nancy hadn’t gone on offense so hard this week about her fundraising dominance. But the more she posted, the more I wondered if it was because she’s hiding an insecurity about her own campaign. Nancy Mace talks a lot about being South Carolina first, but the numbers don’t lie. She’s a powerful, very well-known, digital-first (#respect) candidate with a national following - but not a local one. It is what it is, ya’ll. So…does it matter? You know what to do!
The above quote comes from Mike Laband, an SVP at Magnite, when asked about his takeaway from Advertising Week New York (AWNY). I noted a few weeks ago how Magnite’s ClearLine is changing the game in simplifying the pathway for buyers and sellers in the programmatic ad space. So: Laband has reason to be pushing this POV. That said, I still think he’s on to something. When did everything have to be so complicated? Answer: It doesn’t, and when we reduce the clutter we’ll probably all be better off (financially and mentally amirite??). Just a thought!
—5 Things I’m Watching on the Content Front
Ok, ya’ll. A few weeks ago I ran through 5 things I’m watching in the ad space heading into the 2026 Midterms. This week I’m continuing that theme with 5 things I’m watching in the creative / content space. Content is always evolving. Where and how we share our message makes a huge difference between winning and losing. I don’t care who you are or how much money you have. Creativity matters. Voters expect it. So what am I keeping my eye on? Good thing you asked…
AI-generated video. “Sora, make me a video of AOC shaking hands with JD Vance and admitting she’s a closet MAGA supporter.” Eh? This is a big one. In the last several weeks, Meta, Google, and OpenAI have all rolled out their own AI video apps. While I think it’s fair to say that each app received their fair share of mixed reviews, the headlines are the same: AI-generated video creation is coming to the masses (with audio!). The only question is, are we ready for it and how will it affect the world of political content creation? Maybe it’s too much to say that AI video apps are the new frontier of social networking. Only time will tell, but campaigns are - sooner or later - going to have to grapple with whether or not they’re going to participate. Ethics aside (for now), there’s a lot to unpack here. OpenAI’s Sora app hit 1 million downloads in less than 5 days. Impressive, yes, but what does that say about Americans and their addiction/need for social video content? Anything good? I’ve heard AI video apps described as “Cocomelon for adults” and a place for “AI slop” that “cooks our brains” - and that was all just in one single podcast episode from the New York Times. I think campaigns are going to have to think long and hard about whether or not they want to go down this road, which brings me to my next point: Even having the debate at all represents a shift in thinking about how to approach social media. Perhaps we are entering a new era where the conversation is less “We have to go where the voters are,” and more “Should we really be participating in this?”. Take Sora, for example. I get OpenAI *wants* us to think the app is all about giving people the power to create more positive beauty in the world, but at the end of the day it’s another app designed to keep people mindlessly scrolling, no? This week while scrolling Reels, I came across a video of a 800-pound woman (just guessing) falling through a wooden floor. It took like 5 seconds before my bewildered eyes noticed the tiny Sora logo in the corner. I don’t know how I feel about that. Sure, maybe it will be cool to see a candidate make a Sora profile and allow others to create AI videos using their cameo. If there is such a candidate out there, I would love to see it out of sheer curiosity. But the AI video waters are murky at best and while I’d still urge caution for now, I will FOR SURE be looking to see if anyone starts taking advantage of this.
Republicans on TikTok. We’ve known for quite some time that the Trump Administration has been all-in on saving TikTok for the American people. And now that a deal’s been approved, it’s time to wonder: Will we see a wave of Republicans getting on the popular app? Honestly? I’m not sure. I expect there will probably be more GOP candidates on TikTok this cycle than there were in 2024. But I’m a little skeptical we’ll see a wave. I hinted at this in the above section about AI video, but I just have a hunch (I can’t explain it!) that maybe we’re on the precipice of a new wave in how we approach social media. We flocked to social media apps in the beginning because we craved connection and authenticity. Those things aren’t going away, but I don’t think people are finding them in places like TikTok. So sure: maybe more Republicans will use it (I’ll be watching!), but I wouldn’t be surprised if most take a pass. Who knows - I could totally be wrong on this.
The migration to Substack. Substack is the big one here, but I also think it’s just one player in a larger dynamic: Finding new, non-traditional networking sites to connect with voters. I include LinkedIn and WhatsApp in this category as well. Like I said: I think there’s a shift underway. More and more people are craving real connection and authenticity - the kind you don’t necessarily get all the time on social media apps. And while we’ve seen candidates experiment with Substack in recent years, I have a feeling it’s going to grow more in 2026. Long-form, written content is gonna make a comeback and you heard it here first!
If and how we shake up the standard campaign website. I would love to see some innovation on this front, and I really hope I do in 2026. I called out the state of campaign websites in Doomscroll a few weeks ago for being pretty basic and flat. I’m not necessarily saying we need to re-invent the wheel, but it’s time to do something. I’m seeing a lot of e-commerce sites right now implementing full-screen video that autoplays on the homepage. Example. Maybe we start trying more stuff like that. We’ve got the b-roll, no? I don’t know - just throwing out ideas!
The rise of the campaign influencer. This is my dark horse trend. What do I mean by “campaign influencer”? I mean literally: the people who work on campaigns. If you follow the corporate marketing world at all, you probably saw the buzz word “employee-generated content” (EGC) start popping up a lot in early 2024. You’ve probably seen this type of content more and more on social too, without even realizing it. But companies are increasingly handing the keys to their platforms over to employees to generate content that features…them. It’s a way to personify a brand, build trust, boost engagement, etc etc. There’s huge potential here for campaigns. Yes, the principal will and always should be front and center, but what about the people working behind the scenes? I know in our hyper-polarized world there’s lots of (safety) concerns that could hamper this, but I still expect we’ll see a lot of content over the next year or two that features campaign staff and volunteers.
And there you have it! Am I missing anything? Drop me a line and let me know: itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
—Cutting the crap
Wren Williams is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 47th District. I don’t know a whole lot about him, except he put out this ad and I love it. Watch:
—The importance of being earnest
Ok, one more thing from Virginia:
I don’t know if John Reid writes all his own tweets, or if this was crafted by his team. Either way, it worked (yeah, I chipped in $10). At first I was like “wow why are you being this vulnerable on X,” and then the more I read it, the more I was like “MAN I love helping an underdog!” I guess what I’m saying is that 99% of the time I’m a cynic’s cynic…but if this worked on me??? I don’t know…At the risk of over-analyzing, it’s just so raw that I can’t help but feel for him at this stage on the campaign. He’s not scaring or guilting me into donating, he’s just being real and conveying what few politicians are willing to convey publicly: frustration with the state of things. Campaigns are HARD - mentally, physically, emotionally…letting people in on even a little bit of that (don’t go crazy) could do wonders for fundraising programs.
The WinRed Effect:
$5.6B Processed for Republicans
From 8.8M grassroots donors
97% of Winning Campaigns Use WinRed
🎦 LinkedIn published a post on how to level-up your video game…Some good stuff in here.
📱 Social media apps that help you avoid doomscrolling? Say it ain’t so!
☠️ Can you win a Congressional seat without being on social media? (No) One Dem is trying anyway.
👎Posting links on Twitter doesn’t get you good reach. Now you know.
🤠 The Department of Homeland Security is 2025’s biggest ad spender. Hmmmm.
Former Sen. John Sununu is expected to run again in New Hampshire.
Charlie Hatcher is running for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District
Texas Rep. Morgan Luttrell is endorsing Jessica Steinmann as his successor for his congressional seat.
Bee Cave (!!) Mayor Kara King is running for Congress in Texas’ 10th Congressional District
Byron Donalds continues to dominate the polling in Florida’s gubernatorial primary
Trump endorsed Thomas Massie primary challenger Ed Gallrein
FP1 was behind that nifty AI-generated “Name that Nancy” spot I talked about a few weeks ago.
Chris LaCivita, Tony Fabrizio, and Matt Lira joined the board of WinRed this week.
Speaking of WinRed…membership cards dominated merch in Q3.
Congrats to Kevin Rose on his announcement that Advocacy Lab was acquired by FullPAC.
Sondra Clark posted some interesting insights on what to expect when it comes to pricing out influencer campaigns. Worth a look!
Interesting note from the X ads team: this piece of creative has been crushing it lately.
Finally, I agree with Team Winsome on this.
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
From the other side of the aisle:
Ok. So I really wasn’t going to write about the Graham Platner Reddit post thing…and then he had to go and post a video about it so now I feel like I have to! This is good crisis management. Regardless of whether you buy his explanation or not (I have a hard time listening to him blame the infantry for his behavior. So does Joanna.), it is refreshing to see a candidate so authentic on social media these days. And yes I cringed hardcore as I typed that. As much as I spent the first half of this week’s newsletter bemoaning the state of connection on social, this is how you *can* still do it well. Face to camera. Address it head-on. No frills. Provide context. Don’t deflect blame (eh?) Shift the narrative to how you’ve grown as a person. Lots of candidates could take a lesson from this ::cough cough Jay Jones cough cough::
Again…I’m not saying I totally buy his explanation. Some will, some won’t. It’s still a good tactical move on his part.
From the other side of the tracks:
Protein Pop-Tarts, anyone? Is this the moment we’ve realized the protein trend has gone TOO FAR? I mean, really…We all know pop-tarts are still junk food no matter how large the word “protein” is on the front of the box. Junk food is junk food. Let this be a lesson to us: We can’t make candidates into something they’re not and we shouldn’t try and trick consumers either, based on current fads.
Before you go…
Did you answer this week’s One Question? It takes five seconds!
Access the Doomscroll archive here.
Consider forwarding Doomscroll to your friends!
Love your five content trends. I agree with you that we are on the precipice of a new wave in how we approach social media as well as about Substack. The campaign influencer is interesting and I think someone will try it to great success.