Influencers 4 Prez
Doomscroll 12.3.2023
Hello, friends! Hope everyone had a #blessed Thanksgiving even if it did precede a Doomscroll-free Sunday. I, for one, enjoyed smoked turkey and several sides - including a banging green bean casserole and my all-time favorite: strawberry pretzel jello salad. Who said dessert can’t also be a SALAD?!
Anyway, enough about that. We’ve got a lot to cover this evening, so buckle up, buttercups!
P.S. If this was forwarded to you and you haven’t subscribed yet, do me a solid and help me reach my EOY goal!
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered the last One Question about ::ahem:: Ronna McDaniel. Should she stay or should she go? 92% of you said absolutely she needs to go. Ouch! Sure, it’s always possible the vast majority of Doomscroll readers actually work for Vivek Ramaswamy and I’ve just been none the wiser…but I have my doubts about that. Seems fair to say lots of GOPers are ready for change. I also got lots of good comments about this question. Can’t print them all, but here are some of them:
Yes, don't just fire her. Fire the entire damn organization. Ask anyone who works with the RNC - they are a nightmare, and only worried about bureaucracy and their own jobs. They don't give a crap about the movement and helping Republicans win. And their entire digital fundraising strategy (especially their flaming garbage A2P/P2P/Ads strategy) is predicated on scamming old people into 300% match schemes and fake awards. Burn it all down and salt the field.
What is the positive vision for the future that the RNC is putting forward today to fix a country most voters believe is on the wrong path? If it is just slogans like 'liberty' and 'freedom' that's not enough and doesn't rise to voters' expectations and needs. Ronna's RNC is still messaging like it is 2012. Yeah, we want to replace Joe Biden, but with what? Neo-con foreign policy, austerity, and more tax cuts for corporations? The consultants need to be replaced with people who can create authentic content, understand and want to actually listen to and engage with the grassroots, and will address and provide solutions to kitchen table issues like prices and crime.
Entire party top brass needs the axe. I was told we were going to get tired of winning, but I'm tired of losing without accountability for the people in charge.
Ronna McDaniel has served and should move on either by choice or being shown the door. Her track record is lackluster, to say the least. The party is in dire need of new leadership that isn't deeply rooted in Trump's ass. Winning elections doesn't require genius, just hard work, and being accountable for actions. McDaniel's performance, marked by the loss of numerous governorships, Senate seats, House seats, and even the presidency, speaks volumes about her effectiveness.McDaniel leaving will not “fix” anything but it is a start and one needs to start at the root cause – leadership.
The better question is why should she stay?
The people have spoken.
This week’s One Question is about influencing…kinda. So I was a little late in seeing this, but the other day I watched a video piece published by Politico that features my pal Eric Wilson talking about candidates embracing the “influencer” approach to campaigning (Hi Eric - Great job!). I love the point he makes at the top that not only are candidates competing against each other - they’re also competing against everything else voters could be doing with their time at any given moment. My question is this: Is turning candidates into influencers the best way to solve for that? Are you losing if you’re not influencing? And if so, what does that REALLY say about our political system. Think deep thoughts, people, we’re getting a liiiiitle existential.
Who’s Doing What
--A governor for truly tough messes
Indiana gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun has a new ad about the border crisis and it’s solid. It manages to a) get a Trump tie-in, b) knock Joe Biden, c) knock China for manufacturing fentanyl, d) bring up safety and crime, and e) portray Braun as a leader with solutions. Talk about killing 5 birds with one stone. Not bad!
-- On a roll
In case you missed it, WinRed recently announced plans to unveil 3 new nifty features ahead of the 2024 election cycle ad I am HERE for it. The first of these, dynamic amounts, seems pretty promising. You can read about that here. I’m also excited about the petition pathways, which seem like an awesome way to personalize the donor experience. Will they help us expand our poll of online donors? Fingers crossed! FWIW, WinRed CEO Ryan Lyk was recently on The Business of Politics podcast and made a pretty compelling case as to how these new developments will help campaigns up and down the ballot. Listen here if you haven’t already.
--Can’t Beat ‘em, Join ‘em?
Axios has an interesting piece about how Club for Growth Action and affiliated PACs are picking and choosing when and how to be nice to Donald Trump. Is the group giving up on trying to push Republican voters to dump the former president? Or is this just a calculated move to win an election? Here’s more:
Well-funded groups connected to the conservative Club for Growth have been spending millions this year to attack Donald Trump — while simultaneously running ads touting their endorsed GOP candidates' ties to Trump.
Why it matters: The pro-Trump ads funded by a group that is opposing him are the latest acknowledgement of the former president's deep appeal among some Republican voters before the 2024 presidential primaries begin.
Driving the news: Through a political action committee named Win It Back, the Club for Growth helped fund more than $6 million in ads in Iowa and South Carolina this year. The ads blasted Trump as a "three-time loser" and accused him of costing the GOP in the 2022 midterms, saying that his endorsements "make you lose."
Axios goes on to point out that CFG ran ads supporting Daniel Cameron by playing up his ties to Trump. An affiliated PAC has also been running ads in West Virginia supporting gubernatorial candidate Patrick Morrisey - also playing up his ties to Trump. What’s more, it’ll be interesting to see how the group also plans to spend in the West Virginia Senate primary on behalf of its endorsed candidate., Rep. Alex Mooney. Like Morrisey, Mooney is (or was) close to Trump, yet the former president has already endorsed sitting Gov. Jim Justice. They did just launch an ad attacking Justice for giving money to Democrats over the years - including Hillary and “opposing Trump.” Initially, CFG promised to spend up to $10 million to help Mooney win the primary…time will tell if they follow through or if Justice’s lead in the polls makes them rethink that spending. All in all - Club for Growth Action is definitely one group I’ll be watching closely this cycle.
2024 Roundup
Nikki Haley released her first official campaign ad this week. Watch it here.
Speaking of Haley, she also got a big endorsement from Americans for Prosperity Action, which released their own ad on her behalf. Watch it here.
A key member of Team Vivek decamped to the Trump campaign. Read about it here.
According to the Daily Mail, DeSantis is the biggest spender of the cycle so far. Read their report here.
Semafor took a look at how the Trump campaign is trying to connect with young voters. Read the piece here.
DeSantis for President is running some interesting new creative on Facebook - a video designed to look like an “influencer unboxing” video. (If you don’t know what that is, good for you). See it here.
Also, did Ron DeSantis mean to post this first paragraph on Twitter? LOL’ing but also genuinely curious.
Who’s Spending Where
From November 24 - 30, the top center-right spender on Facebook ads was The Daily Wire, which spent a combined $643,000ish on ads through the DailyWire+ page and Ben Shapiro page. Americans for Prosperity came in second place with about $191,000 on lots of lead-gen ads. Facts for Peace spent $175,000 on anti-Hamas ads, while The Daily Wire popped up again with $133,000 on ads through Brett Cooper’s page (tbh I still have no idea who this person is). Rounding out the top 5 was AFP Action.
During that same time period, Make America Great Again Inc was the top conservative spender on Google ads, spending about $70,000. American Prosperity Alliance spent about $38,000 on ads thanking Republican members of Congress for working to lower healthcare costs. SFA Inc. spent $37,000 Prager University Foundation came in fourth place with $29,000 in ad spend, while a group called More Jobs Less Government rounds out the top five with an immigration ad supporting Tim Sheehy in Montana.
P2P
Industry Watch
Attorneys general from 33 states are going after Facebook for allegedly collecting data from users under the age of 13. Here’s more from CNN:
Since at least 2019, Meta has knowingly refused to shut down the majority of accounts belonging to children under the age of 13 while collecting their personal information without their parents’ consent, a newly unsealed court document from an ongoing federal lawsuit against the social media giant alleges.
Attorneys general from 33 states have accused Meta of receiving more than a million reports of under-13 users on Instagram from parents, friends and online community members between early 2019 and mid-2023. However, “Meta disabled only a fraction of those accounts,” the complaint states.
The federal complaint calls for court orders prohibiting Meta from the practices the attorneys general allege violate the law. Civil penalties could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars, as Meta allegedly hosts millions of users who are teens and children. Most states are seeking anywhere between $1,000 to $50,000 in fines per violation.
…
The unsealed complaint also alleges that Meta knew that its algorithm could steer children toward harmful content, thereby harming their well-being. According to internal company communications cited in the document, employees wrote that they were concerned about “content on IG triggering negative emotions among tweens and impacting their mental well-being (and) our ranking algorithms taking [them] into negative spirals & feedback loops that are hard to exit from.”
No bueno.
The Grapevine
National Public Affairs is hiring.
A4’s Sten McGuire started a new job as Head of Enterprise & Government at Twitter. Congrats, Sten!
Powers Interactive is hosting a webcast on Tuesday, 12/5 about data modeling and custom audience segments. RSVP here, if for no other reason, then for the amazing promo graphic!
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Fav Christmas movie? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
The other day I was feeling too…fine. Too normal. Too happy. Too content. So I decided to rebrand and make myself a new logo.
Oh wait…that was the Democratic Governors Association. Folks, may I present to you the worst logo of the 2024 election cycle:
I get it. The previous version was just…too normal. Too legit. Too old-fashioned for the TikTok influencers. Olds like myself were happy with it…therefore it had to go. The DGA is now in its Zoomer era. Or at least it’s trying to be. It’s like someone asked “how can we make 3-letter acronyms cool again?” And then decided the answer was to draw three identical circles in a box, add some other random lines and call it a LOGO. But I guess this is what happens when your rising star is using “Big Gretch” to connect with the youths. Consider yourselves warned my friends: When your number-one priority is winning the internet, taste and good design go out the window. There but for the grace of God go I.
From the other side of the tracks:
Found this blog post about Instagram trends to be helpful! Maybe you will too.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!