The Ad Gap
Doomscroll 2.22.2026
Good evening and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll - your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right! I know we’re all invested in the Epstein files, but fwiw I’d like the alien files released. Stat. Like, now, please. P.S. I’m not telling you to binge Encounters on Netflix, but I’m not NOT telling you that, either. What you do in your own time is up to you!
Ok, let’s get to some scrolling.
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about the mind-muscle connection and the right’s handling of posting memes. I, for one, thought it was a helpful brain exercise. That said…you guys were pretty split. In response to whether or not Republicans do better with using memes to drive votes, 40% of you said yes. 40% said no, and 20% said sometimes. Hhmm…
Here are some of your comments:
Both parties are equally bad. Over-the-top memes do nothing to move votes. If it did, then the social media content manager would be the highest paid person on the campaign.
We’re so busy trying to keep up that our posting is reactive, not strategic or even intentional. Am I against meme posting and aiming for “fellow kids” type content to be current? Of course not. Does it work across the board when you’re doing it just to keep up? Also no.
The right is at its best in the meme wars when it posts on topics where there is an obvious messaging advantage (ex. Men in women’s sports). The messaging is substantially less effective when the right attempts to meme their way out of complex and complicated topics. It can delegitimize serious arguments that require nuanced messaging.
Neither side is great, in part because the space is occupied by 20-somethings who lack historical or institutional knowledge. The disadvantage for the Right has been that it and the GOP have been traditionally mediocre at communications. The Left has been traditionally better at providing soundbites that exploit the perceived weaknesses of the Right. Yet, the upside for the GOP is that the Left and modern Democrat party present a gold-mine opportunity to mock, make fun of, disparage, embarrass, etc. -- if only the Right would take advantage of it, and exploit it with nuclear, black-and-white clear-cut, in-your-face attacks, memes, and counter-attacks when appropriate. We must not be afraid of the Left’s slanders for merely speaking the truth on any topical issue. In fact, on most any substantive policy question, the Left will respond with their knee-jerk Pavlovian rejoinder of “racist,” “nativist,” “Islamophobe,” etc. Hence, it does no good to walk on eggshells with these people.
Mostly, I agree with all of that. And I know it seems like an awful lot of work to run a content program that attempts to tie output with real-world outcomes, but I think it’s worth it. For one thing, the role of digital on campaigns - and digital teams in general - is evolving. Digital, for some reason, constantly has to fight for relevancy and budget despite the fact that we are living in an online world. And these days, digital teams can’t stake their positions on the strength of an online fundraising program (blah, it is what it is!). Small-dollar donors are a fickle bunch and it was a lot easier to demand a seat at the table when you could point to millions in net revenue brought in by thousands of $5 donations. At the end of the day, we have to evolve. A while back I used this same space to call for campaigns to put some serious thought into hiring a Digital Mobilization Director. I think that’s more important than ever. Online action can translate into real-world behavior. The connection is there. And if Digital is going to move beyond meme-posting and fundraising we need to make those connections clear.
Ok, this week’s One Question is about Facebook ads. There was a meeting of the MAGA minds in D.C. this week. It got some attention. Mark Halperin’s write-up was especially insightful, but one part in particular caught my eye: the fact that Trump’s pollster, Ton Fabrizio, told attendees that candidates should “spend more time on podcasts and social media more than national news interviews. Paid media should go on targeted media, not broadcast or even cable (!!). Facebook is still king for voters, then Instagram and TikTok.”
So…is anyone else surprised that he basically gave Facebook ads a major shout-out? If Facebook is still king, then we need to spending there, right? What do we think of this, and for any GC’s reading - does this make you want to start spending on Facebook sooner rather than later? I’ll be honest…we ain’t doing it very much. In the last 30 days, Republican candidates have basically been absent on Facebook. Dems? Not so much. James Talarico spent over a million dollars on Facebook in the last seven days. Jasmine Crocket, Mark Kelly, Graham Platner, and Josh Shapiro have all spent huge sums on the platform lately as well- just to name a few. The top candidate on our side? Don Huffines, who spent $288,000 and is running for ::checks notes:: Texas Comptroller. I know, I know. Texas Comptroller is basically like running for president, but…really? The next-highest candidate on Facebook is Rick Jackson, who’s running for governor in Georgia and literally got in the race 2 seconds ago. Where are our Republican candidates?? Ya’ll, I’m calling it: forget the wage gap or whatever, there’s a Facebook Ad Gap in politics, and it’s real. What are we doing about this?
The above quote comes from an unnamed GOP operative (Come on! Put your name on it!), to Axios’ Alex Isenstadt in a piece about “GOP angst” over voter turnout. Ok, I know some of us scoff at this. I know some of us are loath to read anything into recent GOP losses at the ballot box and look I am happy for those of you who have learned to harness that sunny, pollyanna-ish optimism. Personally? I don’t know what that feels like. Partly because I’ve been saying FOR A WHILE NOW that the MAGA base isn’t dependable, and that’s just how them apples fall. The base is sleepy. They downright hibernate if Trump isn’t on the ballot (too much?) and we need to seriously have a plan for this. Just a thought.
—Georgia’s Jackson 5
Man, has Rick Jackson made a splash in the Georgia gubernatorial primary! Like I said earlier, this guy got in the race like 2 seconds ago, but he’s already drawing fire from frontrunner(?) Lt. Governor Burt Jones.
Jones put out an ad this week attacking Jackson for backing “RINO’s” like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Bill Cassidy, Geoff Duncan, and Nikki Haley. It’s the Jackson 5! Get it? Get it? (Side note: As a forever Nikki Voter it pains me to see her used in an attack ad in this way, but alas such is the state of our politics). I gotta give props to Team Jones for this ad. It’s good. Clever. Different. And I have no doubt this hit will stick.
—TPUSA Shout-out
I’ve been getting a lot of texts and emails lately from Turning Point USA asking me to “Sponsor a ballot-chaser,” and I gotta say: I kind of like this program. They’re also spending a decent amount on FB ads, which is nice to see. This is what campaigns need from outside groups: back-up. Reinforcement. Help turning out the vote. We all know that tying a donation ask to something concrete is a good way to convince donors to give. Sponsoring a ballot chaser when we ALL know getting the base to turn out in November is critical? Brilliant. Kudos to them.
—PUMP THE BREAKS
This text caught my eye this week - for obvious reasons. A group promising to cut down on fundraising texts? BOLD MOVE. Still, I guarantee almost every single person who got that text this week clicked on the link. The WinRed page is not bad. It includes a LONG wind-up about how critical 2026 is, before asking people to take a LONG voter survey that requires a donation to submit. Two questions: Who sent this, and will they actually honor their promise to cut back on the “endless political texts”?
Well, the text was sent by The Majority PAC, which I assume is these guys. And judging by the state of that website, I’m giving it maybe a 50-50 shot that they’re running a program sophisticated enough to opt people out of the endless texts. Just saying. I could be wrong, and hope I am! There’s nothing more detrimental to P2P programs at large than bad actors who promise something and then don’t deliver. The goal is ::not:: to piss off donors, people. But if they handle this well? Then cool.
📺 YouTube put together a rundown of top-performing ads during the Super Bowl. See the list.
🏛️ Mark Zuckerberg took the stand during that social media addiction trial. Read more.
🤖 …Meanwhile, Meta is planning to spend $65 million on AI-friendly candidates during the Midterms. Part of the plan involves a new Super PAC that will specifically boost Republicans, Forge the Future Project. Read more.
🖥️ And Meta will continue its tradition of banning new ads in the final week before the election. Womp, womp.
🤳 Axios documented how Charlie Kirk was involved in saving TikTok. Read more.
🚔 Apparently DHS really screwed up its “worst of the worst” website. No bueno!
Um…not a whole lot going on this week in terms of announcement news? But here’s what I got:
Gina Swoboda decided to drop her congressional bid in Arizona.
Riley Owen is running for Congress in Utah’s 1st Congressional District
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry endorsed Julia Letlow in her Senate bid
Burt Jones got some bad news for his gubernatorial campaign…
Lindsey Graham’s 2 primary opponents are going after each other… Talk about southern shenanigans!
Congrats to Lance Trover for joining Mike Johnson’s office as communications director!
Advantage, Inc is rolling out Advantage+ - a new platform that will include relational organization including calling, doors, texting and emails powered by Buzz360.
According to OpenSecrets, a “handful” of firms dominate the ad-buying space on both the right and the left. So congrats to Del Ray Media, Strategic Media Services, Main Street Media Group, Flexpoint, and Targeted Victory! And also can I have $5.
Thought Kate Holliday’s latest post on whether frequency is dead was particularly spicy 🔥
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:
2 things I want to highlight this week.
1: This video from Elizabeth Dempsey Beggs - a Democrat running for Congress in Virginia’s 1st congressional district. For better or worse, this is where content is headed, and candidates need to get on board. Show us your workout regimen! Give us a peak at your peptide stack (fine, your “supplements”)! Show us your go-to smoothie recipe! Sure, list your top 3 favorite books. Play some pickleball. Whatever! You can weave in the political speak all you want, just show us you’re a real person.
2: James Talarico reportedly raising a cool $2.5 million in 24 hours after whining about his Colbert interview not airing on TV. Here’s the thing: Sure, controversy raises money and you gotta give him credit for capitalizing on the moment. That said - what makes this any different from a scammy fundraising email or text? Nothing? What Talarico claimed was factually inaccurate. Donald Trump did not, in fact, keep his interview from airing. And yet the Democratic Party’s newfound moral compass - the Mr. Wannabe Pastor and Arbiter of Biblical Truth - twisted the narrative and lied to donors to whip them into a donation-inclined frenzy. But whatever. This is what Dems do. So what’s the lesson here? If your major interview gets canned, pivot. Please don’t lie to voters, but also there’s nothing wrong with trying to capitalize on a moment.
From the other side of the tracks:
Here’s a cool story from INC: Burger King CEO gave out his personal cell number “in a push for unfiltered customer feedback.” While the CEO - Tom Curtis - kind of admitted it was a little bit of a marketing stunt, it’s more than that too.
Here’s another nugget from the coverage that stood out to me:
That’s what Krista Dalton, chief marketing officer and chief digital officer of the cowboy boot brand Tecovas, said when Inc. asked her to predict the marketing trends that would define 2026.
“The ironic viewpoint of marketing of the 2010s is turning into people wanting a true connection,” Dalton told Inc. “Customers respond to emotion and clarity.”
I know candidates have done this before on the campaign trail. Giving out personal cell phone numbers isn’t that new, but that quote from Dalton does drive home a point we should remember in 2026: customers (voters) want connection, emotion, and clarity. So let’s give it to them!
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