Christmas Vibes ☃️🎄🎅
Doomscroll 12.21.2025
Hello and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll - your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right!
Doomscroll will be taking a break next Sunday as I will be busy soaking up all of the holiday cheer this coming week - including the 68 degree temperature that’s forecasted for Christmas Day and attempting Yorkshire Pudding for the third year in a row. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
And don’t forget to send those End of Year Priorities surveys and fundraising deadline emails!
Also, is it just me or did the Vanity Fair piece just make you like Susie Wiles even more? Hold on: Making “channel Susie Wiles energy” my goal for 2026. #StandwithSusie
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about who Doomscroll’s 2025 Person of the Year should be! Drumroll please…….
The top prize - at 42% of the vote - goes to Charlie Kirk. I’m not surprised. Totally get it. The case could certainly be made that no one had more of an impact on conservatism (and by extension our voters) this year than Charlie.
Second place goes to our good friend Eric Wilson! Eric needs no introduction. He’s been doing the Lord’s work in the digital space for eons at this point so yes, I do believe he’s earned some kudos - and I am happy to give them!
The rest of the responses were basically split between Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Here’s what one of you had to say about Altman:
OpenAI (and AI in general) are basically going to define politics for the next year or more. Data Centers are driving the cost of living (electricity) through the roof while reducing available land for housing [and are wildly unpopular politically]. Altman/OpenAI just recently bought out 40% of the world’s supply of unfinished RAM wafers (not RAM itself). That action looks like it was potentially to block any competitors from having it (to build models to compete with OpenAI) which will drive consumer electronic prices through the roof (and perhaps more – see Micron getting out of the consumer RAM business). Finally, Corporate America is attributing a lot of their layoffs to AI and I already got one story by a person laid off in favor of an AI replacement (it was for marketing). Keep in mind this is all being driven by a company in the red by ~$12-15 billion a quarter and with $1.4 Trillion in outstanding commitments [related to data centers] it can’t meet (see Oracle’s stock plunge in the last week or so for Wall Street finally catching on). No one else is going to have as big an impact politically in this country outside of a foreign war starting.
Hmm…a lot of that I didn’t know, I admit. But it IS interesting and hard to disagree that A) AI is going to reshape how we do campaigning - probably for more than just the next year - and B) data centers are for SURE an under-covered story right now. Just saying.
Ok. This week’s One Question is an oldie but a goodie that I’m recycling from last year. I don’t know if anyone remembers, but last year at this time I asked you all to spill the tea on your end-of-year bonuses. So many of you went bananas over that question. And the ranges in responses were WILD. So: I’m gonna ask again! If you’re an employee: What’d you get?? If you’re an employer: What’d you give?? And yes, for the millionth time: Every answer is anonymous. I will never know who submitted what so GO HAM ON THIS ONE, GUYS.
The above quote is a bullet point in the memo Ken Martin wrote explaining why the DNC would not be releasing its report on the 2024 election (LMAO). Martin (poorly) explains that rather than looking backwards, the committee will be moving forward and focusing on the midterms with, among other things, “results-driven organizing.” Enter the aforementioned bullet point. All DNC mockery aside, I’m highlighting this because Martin is laying it out for us in black and white: the Dems are reimagining how to use digital AND RELATIONAL ORGANIZING TOOLS to reach voters. The gauntlet has been thrown, my friends. The only question is: How will we respond? Just a thought!
(FWIW: He also called on Democrats to spend less on linear and more on digital and CTV. Just gonna point that out).
(FWIW take 2: Did anyone else catch that he talked about how the DNC put out an RFP focused on tools and technologies that shape the next generation of organizing - basically asking for new tools to test? Are we doing this? Does the RNC have a similar RFP it’s shopping around? Look: if you are working on a new tech product specifically for the right HMU and tell me about it! I wanna know!)
—Social Shout-out
I want to take a moment this week and give a shout-out to Rep. Tim Burchett’s social media presence, of which I only recently became aware of. I’m always telling clients - and Doomscroll readers - that good content doesn’t have to be fancy or slick. It just has to be real. It has to resonate. Tim Burchett is REAL. It all started a couple weeks ago when I saw content on Instagram about his famous 15-minute Christmas party. It was cute. Fun. Quick. Dare I say…heartwarming? He shared some cheese wiz with John Fetterman. He teared up during a rendition of “Tennessee Christmas.” I guess what I’m saying is this: No one was trying too hard. And now IG clearly has learned that I appreciate good content, so I get Burchett reels constantly. And guess what - I ain’t mad about it! One of the things that strikes me the most about him is how consistent he is. From what I can tell, he posts at least once a day - sometimes multiple times. And ya’ll: his stuff isn’t complicated. A short selfie video (usually at a very unflattering angle, tbh). Short caption. Boom. Done. That’s all you need, guys! Well done, Congressman.
—Nebraska nightmare?
Look, I like to think that Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts has nothing to worry about, but nothing for Republicans is a sure thing in 2026 and the race between Ricketts and “independent” Dan Osborn is sure to get interesting. The senator must know it, too, because he’s been spending money on pair of ads on Youtube that are interesting. One exposes Osborn’s liberal record for what it is. Pretty basic, but also pretty effective. Watch it here. Like it.
Second, Ricketts is spending money on…a heartwarming (gah, that’s the second time I’ve used this word today!) Christmas message? Do I have that right? Yes, I think I do. Feast your eyes. I don’t hate this, but I also find it curious. Is he trying to soften his image? Burn through some cash? Contrast himself with his opponent? Not sure…but I guess we’ll take it. Regardless - God speed, Senator!
—I lol’ed…
…because I’m 5. But someone at the NRSC is too so it all works out :)
—Tell me you’re exploring a presidential run without telling me you’re exploring a presidential run.
Look, I like Spencer Cox. This is an interesting issue for him to carve out a lane with…but maybe it works? It transcends political parties and he’s obviously trying to rise to the occasion. Just saying - I love a dark horse candidate, and he’s someone to keep an eye on in the months ahead.
Lots of good stuff to flag this week!
🖼️ Interesting: YouTube is testing adding images to the shorts feed
📺 Doubly interesting: Instagram is launching Reels for TV. It’s the million-dollar question: Can social media apps invade our living rooms take over the large screen? I’m a little skeptical - but maybe!?
🤳 Could come in handy: Tips for becoming a successful content creator
🤖 Groan: The 2025 word of the year is slop. Guess it fits.
Holy heck: This news from Elise Stefanik shocked me, and I am not easily shocked.
Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis is not running for re-election (also didn’t have this on my Bingo card, gotta say).
Looks like the Trump-Musk feud is over (for now)
Will Ainsworth is teasing a Senate run in Alabama
Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga is running for re-election
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is running for re-election
Cannabis entrepreneur Duke Rodriguez is running for governor in New Mexico
Casey (the car guy) Putsch is running for governor in Ohio
David Hann is running for Senate in Minnesota
Michele Tafoya might also decide to run for Senate in Minnesota
Eric Hovde will NOT be running for governor in Wisconsin.
Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer is running for Congress in Florida
Check out WinRed’s 2025 Recap here.
Show of hands: who knew that Rob Rein - yes, THE Rob Rein from John Hall Strategies (formerly IMGE and DeSantis for President) - was hiding some world-class baking skills this whole time? Ok, maybe *hiding* is too strong of a word since he DOES have an IG account. Check it out here - and beg him to bake you some cheesecake!
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:
When you’re running fundraising video ads, any strategist will say you need to do something within the first few seconds of the video to grab a viewer’s attention. Most of the time, that advice gets ignored (it’s true!). But sometimes, candidates are game to step up to the plate! Enter Texas senate candidate James Talarico and Michigan senate candidate Mallory McMorrow. I find Talarico’s attempt to do this totally cringey. Like, can-barely-watch-cringe-y (are we supposed to clap once or twice? Giving confusing instructions makes you a crappy middle-school teacher in my book!). Not sure what it is about him that I find so off-putting. McMorrow’s is much better. It’s fun and way more authentic, and if I were giving advice to Dem candidates (not that I would ever do that!) I’d tell them to be less like Talarico and more like McMorrow. It is what it is!
From the other side of the tracks:
This Wall Street Journal piece about corporate America looking to hire “storytellers” caught my eye this week. I mean…read this nugget below and tell me this could NOT have been written about the political industry - just swap out “companies” with “campaigns.” Replace “customer acquisition” with “voter acquisition” or “lead generation.” To sell something, you have to tell a story. It’s as true in corporate America as it is in politics.
Here’s that nugget:
Corporate America’s latest hot job is also one of the oldest in history: storyteller.
Some companies want a media relations manager by a slightly flashier name. Others need people to produce blogs, podcasts, case studies and more types of branded content to attract customers, investors and potential recruits. All seem to use the word differently than in its usual application to novelists, playwrights and raconteurs.
“As storytellers,” a Google job ad said last month, “we play an integral role in driving customer acquisition and long-term growth.”
…
The percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the U.S. that include the term “storyteller” doubled in the year ended Nov. 26, to include some 50,000 listings under marketing and more than 20,000 job listings under media and communications that mentioned the term, according to the professional-networking platform.
Executives meanwhile said “storyteller” or “storytelling” on earnings calls and investor days 469 times this year through Dec. 11, compared with 359 times in all of 2024 and 147 times in 2015, according to FactSet.
The surge reflects a transformed media landscape over the past 25 years.
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