Hey there - welcome to another edition of Doomscroll, your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right! Let’s go ahead and dive right in because guess what? BE COOL and everything is going to work out well. (My new life motto). P.S. Has anyone put that on a t-shirt yet???
Small housekeeping note: Doomscroll will be on hiatus next Sunday to observe Easter Sunday. 🐇
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question, provided by Vice President JD Vance, about what it’s going to take to get GOP voters to the polls in an off year. I got some interesting responses. Here are some of them:
We need other vibrant personalities other than Trump. Even people running in off-year elections just talk about supporting Trump. Nothing will change until we can't vote for Trump anymore.
No solution Dems always win this one.
Scale volunteer programs and adopt the Obama snowflake model of organizing
Amateurs think strategy. Professionals think logistics. Only solution is to level/up the Grassroots game. Think: Elon in Pennsylvania. Think: Election Day scene in ‘Gangs of New York.’ Solutions will be local - everything from pregame (Pressler-types) to door-knockers to ride-givers, etc. Democrats are inherently collectivist (and activist) which means they naturally think along these lines and are closer to such power structures. Conservatives are individualists. We simply don’t run for school boards or view working for state/local govt as our highest aspiration. At the entrance to my son’s school in Fairfax County, two women hand out “school calendars” on back to school night. Oddly, only one date is circled on the calendar: Election Day, and on the back of the calendar is the slate of local Democrats you’re supposed to vote for. Democrats are sooooo much better at this game than we are. They don’t do anything fancy. They simply run the football up the middle repeatedly while we try to draw up “big plays” on the chalkboard. We think “silver bullets,” they think shotgun. It’s 101-level stuff.
Take a page out of Maximus Decimus Meridius' book and entertain the people. The base turns out when they get fired up, and they don't get fired up by policy.
Text and email them as much as you canUsing third party support and multi touch points
I think there's some truth in all these answers. As for the person who said there’s no solution…I agree the decks are stacked against Republicans in off-years, but that’s no reason to not try. And this is coming from someone who’s cup is so half-empty I named this newsletter DOOMscroll. ;) And yes…I tend to agree that the Dems are much better organizers and activists (most of the time). But as digital operatives, it’s our job to figure out how we can help our side do this better. Grassroots + digital + quality candidates + the right messaging. Puzzle. Pieces.
Ok. This week’s One Question is inspired by tonight’s “Other Side of the Aisle” section (scroll down to see!). We’re talking podcasts. Everyone’s doing them, and for good reason. On our side of the aisle, we’ve got some good ones: Ted Cruz’s Verdict, for one. A few House members have podcasts as well (Dan Crenshaw, Andy Biggs, just to name a couple). But here’s what I want to know: Which sitting lawmaker would you like to see launch a new podcast? Can be a governor, senator…even someone local! For real: I listen to Pints and Politics every week, which is hosted by two South Carolina state legislators and it’s pretty great.
I just want to know who you all have got your eyes on! Please don’t say Marjorie Taylor Greene.
One Quote
One Thought
Will the GOP Strategist who uttered the above phrase please stand up?? JK, Jk. Even though tariffs have been paused for 90 days, I imagine this sentiment is still pervasive throughout GOP fundraising circles. And while I’m not suggesting we go into full-blown panic mode just yet, I do think it’s time to gird our loins when it comes to online fundraising this cycle for a variety of reasons - top of which will definitely be economic turmoil.
Just a thought.
Who’s Doing What
—Bad Dems!
The NRCC launched a digital ad campaign targeting Democrat lawmakers for voting against the budget resolution, thereby voting to “raise taxes”. Targets include Don Davis in North Carolina, Marcy Kaptur in Ohio, and Tom Suozzi in New York.
—Testing, Testing
I have gotten this email probably a million times in the last two weeks. And no, I’m not exaggerating. It must be doing well. It’s pretty brilliant in its simplicity. Nicely done.
—Don’t Mess With Texas
Ok let’s talk about Ken Paxton. The Texas Attorney General officially launched his campaign to primary Sen. John Cornyn this week - putting national Republicans in quite the pickle. But! Whatever you think about Paxton, you gotta admit he’s got a nice website. At first I wasn’t too sure about the font choice in the logo, but it’s grown on me. Let’s talk about his announcement video, though. The first 1 minute and 20 seconds is a Cornyn attack ad, which is an odd choice, in my humble opinion. It’s so negative and signals what the tone of his campaign is going to be: bleak. I will never understand why candidates choose to launch this way. Paxton himself only appears in b-roll footage too, never talking directly to the camera. Maybe he and his consultants think he’s already so well known in the state that it doesn’t matter. Call me old fashioned, but I think it does. He’s not running for AG. He’s not suing anyone. This is a different campaign and no matter how much he’s been in the news, I believe he should be re-introducing himself to the voters of Texas as a candidate for the United States Senate. Don’t take your name I.D. for granted, is all I’m sayin’. All in all though, it seemed like a solid digital launch. And yes, I signed up for his email and SMS list (so you don’t have to). Very much looking forward to having box inboxes blown up.
—New in New Jersey
Gov candidate Jack Ciattarelli spent $34.5K in the last week alone on a pair of relatively new 30-second ads on YouTube. Both play up his embrace of Trump while going after incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy and “Trenton Democrats.”
Watch “Enough” here and “No Help” here.
Merch Shout-Out
It’s been too long since we’ve had a good merch shout-out! Thanks to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, that changes today. LOVE this Masters-themed hat. Get yours here. Way to blend cool political merch with a current event. ::chef’s kiss::
Who’s Spending Where
P2P
This week’s P2P shout-out goes to 1776 Project PAC. They’re a group that gets involved in local school board elections to get rid of CRT curriculums, “woke” board members, etc. So yeah: great mission. But wow this text…and the donation page. It’s a 12/10 on the “OUR WORLD IS ENDING RIGHT NOW” scale. I don’t love it…but maybe it still works with donors? Blah. The hair-on-fire stuff just doesn’t do it for me.
Industry Watch
📹 YouTube is supporting the No Fakes Act, which aims to protect creators from AI-generated content
💵 Political ad spending reached $146 million in Q1, according to AdImpact
🕺Instagram trial reels could be worth experimenting with to gain new followers.
📱Check out Deloitte’s 2025 social media trends report. One key takeaway: Americans spend about 6 hours a day consuming content - and that’s a mix of streaming services, video platforms, gaming and audio.
🖐️So…how many interactions does each social media platform actually drive? Some answers can be found here.
⚖️ The Trade Desk is facing a couple of lawsuits in California. Read about it here.
2025-2026 Watch
Old news by now, but Rep. John James is running for governor of Michigan!
Mike Kennealy is running for governor of Massachusetts
It’s a no from New Hampshire’s Chris Sunnunu
Rep. Tom Tiffany is mulling a run for governor of Wisconsin
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will not be running for re-election in 2026
Will AG Brenna Bird run to replace her?
Dems are choosing to go all-in on the anti-Musk playbook in Virginia this year.
The Grapevine
Numinar is looking to hire a Growth Strategist. Check out the job description here and get to applying!
Appears to be some angst at the NRSC over fundraising numbers…
Buzz360 has released a new tool in their platform that “identifies potential advocates and micro-influencers—before they ever raise their hands” Read more about it here.
National Media Insights and Kinetiq have partnered to launch Kinetiq Political Insights (KPI). The platform will combine “Kinetiq’s real-time ad detection data with National Media Insights’ comprehensive ad spend data, equipping political advertisers, advocacy groups, and agencies with the tools needed to optimize campaign messaging and media strategies.” Read more here and also here.
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has a podcast. Because, duh, hello 2028. It comes with its own website, its own Twitter account, and some very pleasant intro music. Good for Andy Beshear. I’ll be honest, though: Beshear is so dry and boring, I barely got through the 3-minute intro. And I’m not trying to throw shade just because he’s a Dem…I’m just calling balls and strikes here! He’s got a lot of work to do if he’s going to compete on the podcast front with his presidential primary foe fellow governor Gavin Newsom…
From the other side of the tracks:
Marketing Brew did a deep dive on how the brand Supergoop, which has utilized SMS marketing since 2018, is evolving its strategy to cut through the noise. Now that everyone and their uncle is texting potential customers, how do you stay above the fray to still get results? Here’s the bit that stood out to me:
Nguyen said she attributes the sales success to Supergoop’s creative style and its audience segmentation tactics on the back end, both of which can allow the brand to break through.
When it comes to texting, Nguyen feels strongly about what doesn’t work. That can include a lack of message variation, along with too many messages overall.
“We’re now starting to see an avalanche of blind marketing where there isn’t much differentiation between what’s in an email and an SMS message,” she said.
Email inboxes can function like a search engine for consumers looking for deals, Nguyen said, while SMS inboxes can feel more personal. Because of the way texts are displayed, the number of messages a brand sends can also be more obvious to a consumer. “The SMS inbox, while valuable, is more sensitive than the email inbox,” she said.
Read the rest here. Let’s take this lesson to heart: Your SMS strategy goes hand-in-hand with your email campaigns, but they shouldn’t be exact replicas.
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