Happy Thanksgiving to everyone except those TikTok'ers
Doomscroll 11.19.23
Happy Sunday and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll. Raise your hand if a couple days ago you were shocked to realize Thanksgiving was only a week away. As such, Doomscroll will be taking a much-needed holiday break next week. Drown your sorrows in all that gravy!
But in all seriousness, I am thankful for each and every one of you who subscribe and read Doomscroll. It’s a fun thing we have going here, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. #TeamCannedCranberrySauce
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about 2023 Election Day takeaways. Here are some of the responses I got:
Huge messaging problem in nj
Republicans need to focus more on lower level and municipal elections in the future.
Fire Ronna, the RNC staff, and everyone associated with that swampy hellhole.
Having worked on some 2023 races, it was a lesson that digital tactics which work on large campaigns don't necessarily scale down. (I want to know more about this - HMU over email and expand!)
It's clear we have some turnout problems here. We've got to do a better job of animating our base to get out to the polls for off-year elections. This should be a collaborative effort. I personally really like the way Youngkin ran GOTV efforts alongside the VA GOP this year. Local elections matter A LOT to our grassroots folks, let's put some focus and energy (and probably money) into them.
None of the above. As for the last nearly decade, it's Trump. It all goes back to that. Dems go farther left in a knee jerk to Trump, ultracons go farther right in response to the left and it goes on and on and the middle 80% of us get screwed by extremists with ulterior motives who don't know a thing about governing and just ran to fluff their pet issues and fight against Trump or kiss his boots, depending on the side.
This week…Well, I debated even asking this question, but what the hey - a bunch of you went there in response to last week’s survey (and we know how Vivek Ramaswamy feels), so here goes: Should Ronna McDaniel be fired and even if she is, will that solve the GOP’s victory problem? Let me know what you think!
Who’s Doing What
--TikTok Terrorism
A couple weeks ago I wrote about how the TikTok hivemind is coming for us. Now, I’m convinced more than ever. It’s not just that the pro-Palestine content far outnumbers the pro-Isarel content (it does), which is infecting susceptible young minds. It’s not just that TikTok was thrown into the limelight once again with last week’s presidential primary debate (it was). It’s not even about the Pew Research survey that came out this week proving that more and more American adults are turning to TikTok for their news (they are). It’s mostly because this week, we saw another trend emerge that is seriously so absurd I honestly can’t believe it’s legit. I’m talking about the pro-Osama bin Laden trend. Guys: I have about as much respect for Gen Z right now as the next freedom-loving, American flag-waving conservative, but this? I can’t wrap my head around it. No way Gen Z is THIS freaking stupid.
I don’t care who you are, how progressive you are, or how many brain cells you’ve already burned by smoking the devil’s cabbage, there’s no way any American with a pulse would actually post a video of themselves praising bin Laden. Right?? ::Dons tin foil hat:: How do we know these videos are real and not fake TikToks made by the Chinese government to sow even more fear and division in an America already roiled with Palestine-Israel conflict? I’m just asking questions, here. And so is Erick Erickson, for that matter.
(Side note: Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely not in the Philip Bump “concerns about this are overblown” camp. Seriously - what’s with this guy? This videos ARE freaky for a number of reasons.)
And FWIW, What does this say about the Democratic Party that’s SO CONCERNED about the spread of misinformation and election meddling? Whatever Russia did or didn’t do in 2016 is going to look like child’s play compared to what the CCP can do next year with this one social media app. And yet. Democrats are all over TikTok. The DNC is on TikTok. The Biden campaign is utilizing TikTok influencers, and is reportedly considering getting on the app as well. I mean, if the left really cared about protecting democracy and stopping the spread of disinformation, they would be first to question the role TikTok is playing in our social discourse. Republicans around the country are, for their part, taking steps to ban or limit the app, but it’s tricky - legally speaking.
Look, I know this newsletter is supposed to be about how the right uses digital tools and the internet to win hearts and minds and votes and all that. But I also know there are a lot of candidates out there asking their digital consultants if they should be on TikTok. I’ve gotten the question several times in my career, and it’s helpful to have a response ready. Maybe my TikTok rants do not move you; ok, so be it. But I think it’s worth laying the cards out on the table. Reaching young people is important, yes. But if you, like me, weigh the costs of being on TikTok versus not being on TikTok and decide to advise against being on the app, then a) good for you, and b) have your alternative suggestions ready. That’s all I’m saying.
-- What Happens in West Virginia Doesn’t Stay in West Virginia…
Joe Manchin’s retirement announcement is ricocheted around the country, most notably in Montana, where Republican senate candidate Tim Sheehy is fundraising off of it. Yes, a candidate in Montana is fundraising off a West Virginia senator’s decision to retire. But none of us are surprised, right? It’s actually a nice play by Sheehy’s team. It’s a 30-second face-to-camera video about how the news a) makes Montana the number-one pick-up seat next year AND b) means Senate Democrats are going to pour even more money into the race to re-elect John Tester. It’s gonna be an expensive one, folks! But this is a clever way to nationalize a senate race when we’re still 12 months ago.
--Border Ads in Ohio
Matt Dolan is one of several Republicans running in the primary in Ohio for the chance to unseat Democrat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown. And… he must have gotten some good polling back telling him the border crisis was a winning message for primary voters in the Buckeye State. Every single ad that he’s run on Facebook since mid-June has been about the southern border:
Remember, Dolan is no stranger to Ohio politics. He’s a state senator who lost the primary last year to J.D. Vance. So, no doubt he’s in it to win this time around…He also seems to be angling for the middle-of-the-road Republican track and seems convinced talking about the border is the way to win primary voters’ hearts. I dig it. We’ll see if it works!
2024 Roundup
Team Vivek launched FireRonna.com. See it here.
Nikki Haley said that anonymity on social media should go bye-bye and companies should release their algorithms. Watch her talk about it here.
Ron DeSantis is offering supporters the chance to win two tickets to Atlanta to witness his Nov. 30 debate with Gavin Newsom. See the WinRed page here.
Merch Shout-Out
I don’t know about you, but I’m not necessarily AGAINST U.S. senators challenging committee hearing witnesses to a fight. I’m not saying it’s 100% the best idea, but I’m also not saying I wouldn’t watch it, know what I mean? Anyway, that’s especially true when said senator turns it into a fundraising opportunity with some nice merch. Good job, Senator Markwayne Mullin. Get your shirt here.
Speaking of merch, I’ve got an eye out for all the Christmas-related political merch I EPXECT TO SEE IN THE COMING WEEKS. If you’ve got something awesome in the works, flag it for me! itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Who’s Spending Where
Between November 8 -14, Americans for Prosperity was, once again, the top conservative spender on Facebook ads, with about $202,000 on lead-gen creative. The Jewish Federation of North America spent just over $190,000 on ads, mostly to promote the Stand with Israel March in D.C. this week. AFP Action spent $113,000 on more anti-Trump ads. PragerU came in 4th place with $99,000 in ad spend promoting Prager content, while the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism spent another $86,000 on ads to combat antisemitism.
On Google during that same time period, AFP Action was the top spender at $113,000. Second place goes to SFA Inc, which spent $103,000 on search ads and video hitting DeSantis on China. Make America Great Again Inc spent $70,000 on an ad hitting DeSantis for siding with Liberals to make Puerto Rico a state, which would add 2 more Democratic senators to the Senate. Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee spent $20,000 on ads, while Prager University Foundations rounds out the top five with $19,000 in spend.
P2P
Industry Watch
Semafor reported this week that the progressive Courier Newsroom is making plans to expand heading into 2024. Here’s more:
On Monday, Courier Newsroom, a network of liberal news sites, will announce a new slate of national contributors and newsletters, video series, op-eds and podcasts that largely focus on “explaining, exposing, and fighting back against threats to our freedoms and democracy.”
…
While the news organization is not explicitly partisan, it has deep ties to the Democratic party, and is part of a broader effort among liberals to create an alternative news ecosystem to counter the strength of conservative media.
The network of state-focused digital news sites is an attempt to fill some of the gaps left by the erosion of local news, as well as the recent collapse of some left-leaning digital news organizations. Courier has experimented with creating a hybrid funding model that relies on reader contributions, sponsors, and philanthropic and corporate underwriting.
Some big names will give it a boost: As part of its new national news push, Courier interviewed President Joe Biden last week, and will publish the interview on Monday on TikTok and Instagram.
Once again, I’m just a Republican, wondering why we don’t do anything like this on our side.
The Grapevine
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Fav Thanksgiving side dish? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Lots is happening on the left this week. For starters, the Biden campaign is reportedly testing out fundraising platforms as an alternative to ActBlue, which is pretty shocking IMO.
Speaking of Democratic fundraising, a new progressive start-up called Oath got the magazine treatment in Time this week. I think this will be an interesting experiment…I’m not sure how Democrat activists will respond to being told where they should actually direct their online donations. This seems like a top-down approach to small-dollar fundraising that kinda…defeats the point of utilizing a active base. But who knows!? Maybe small-dollar donors will respond well to being nudged to give to a competitive House race on the other side of the country.
Last but not least, the New York Times reported this week that Priorities USA will not run a single TV ad during the 2024 election cycle, and will instead rely entirely on digital. The group will spend a whopping $75 million on “communications, research and infrastructure.”
From the other side of the tracks:
What a heart-warming story! As a BWG (basic white girl) I own not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 Stanley cups and I love them all. Sorry, not sorry. This is a great response from the brand to a viral video about their product. What’s the takeaway for campaigns? Take a break from asking for stuff and take care of your fans every once in a while!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!