Hello, and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll - your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right! Let’s get to some scrolling.
This week’s Doomscroll is sponsored by WinRed. Thank you!
One Question
Thank you to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about Elon Musk’s America Party. At the end of the day, 71% of you said you don’t really care about this venture of Musk’s and 28% of you said you hate it. No one said they liked the idea of the America Party, so…that settles that. Here are a few reader comments:
It comes down to a lot of basic questions - how much is he willing to spend? What's the general platform for the party? What seats are he targeting? How long is he willing to keep on with this (as in years)? There's certainly the possibility of siphoning off enough Republican votes to lose seats but not much else at this point (realistically) in the short-term. Long-term this might be more interesting if Elon's willing to keep on [post-Trump] since it's not like the elected Republicans have fundamentally changed in the past decade (as Trump largely helped entrench a lot of terrible incumbents who drive the legislation).
Nothing, unless you're working in a district where Musk will operate. If so, hire a good pollster and team.
It’ll be interesting to see what comes of Republican politics this cycle. Elon abandoned Trump and started his whole new America Party right at the same time as the MAGA base is becoming restless about the Epstein list. If Elon plays his cards right, and the MAGA base gets more restless, he could easily attract a large base to this third party. If anything, in the short term I think this splits up the Republican vote even more - traditionally the Libertarian Party would pull a solid chunk of votes away from the party, but now having two third parties pulling votes away could be detrimental to key swing districts.
Not much. Unless he plans to drop hundreds of millions dollars on it, it won't go anywhere.
I envision this going a lot like Andrew Yang’s Forward Party. Will make some social media splashes but won’t do much electing.
This week’s One Question is about social media…and you. I’ve been talking a lot lately about social strategy (this week is no exception!), and I’m curious whether it’s actually relevant to you all. Or, which parts are relevant. So this week I want to know: How many of you are actually involved with social media strategy, content production, etc. I know this question is a bit limiting because a lot of you work at vendors and other businesses in the digital field that might not require you to pay attention to the social media landscape. But that’s ok - if you’re just a consumer of social content, I want to know that to! Are you a GC and your role is simply to approve content? Are you up to your eyeballs in content calendars? I want to know all of it.
One Quote
One Thought
The above quote is from Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. It’s a remarkable take for a couple reasons. Fetterman’s social media presence during and after his 2022 campaign was lauded over and over again. He was called the TikTok Whisperer by The New York Times. Teen Vogue said he set a “new standard for the use of social media in politics.” His digital director, Sophie Ota, was heralded as some kind of digital wunderkind. Now, to hear him talk about social media with such disdain (lol) is equal parts jarring and hilarious, if you ask me. But, as he points out, he still does it. He produces the content, he just doesn’t scroll. His comment also comes at an interesting time. Dem consultants have spent the last 6 months blaming their losses on losing the social media game to the right. And now one of their star players in the digital game is shit-talking social media in general? It’s…quite something.
Who’s Doing What
—Get with the [social] program
Semafor had an interesting piece this week reporting on yet another memo by yet another DC digital firm warning to get social or get lost. Here’s more:
In a strategy memo shared with Semafor that will be sent to Democratic campaigns and firms Monday morning — titled Who’s Afraid of Social Video? National Democrats, Apparently — Van Ness Creative Strategies issued a strong warning about the party’s communication strategy, saying that Democrats in key 2026 battleground districts are “failing” to reach Americans online.
“Electeds, candidates, and organizations must take social media seriously,” the memo says. “If you do not feel like you can handle communicating directly with voters or constituents… now is a great time to retire.”
And more:
The ad firm said that it had spent the past several weeks surveying the accounts of frontline congressional Democrats up for election in 2026. A significant portion had left their personal and campaign social media accounts dormant. Only 16% post videos often or even occasionally on their campaign accounts, the firm found, and only 4% are posting there more than once a week.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I get this isn’t a great look, but I am once again scratching my head. Where is the myth coming from that Republicans are suddenly so much better at social media than Democrats? Truly, I’m not trying to belittle our social media game (it ain’t easy and most of you do pretty good!!!), but this is starting to feel like an easy, lazy excuse for Dems who need something to blame for their losses in 2024. Republicans did not win up and down the ballot last year because we posted better videos on Instagram. And this is coming from someone who has gotten paid to do social media for campaigns. I am looking in the mirror here. Posting consistent, original, and engaging content on a variety of different platforms sometimes feels like forcing yourself to come up with 100 different ways to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sometimes you want to throw it up against the wall. Or boycott sandwiches altogether.
Anyway, I decided to do a little data collection of my own and analyze the social media accounts of the 35 House Republicans (ok, 33 minus Don Bacon and Andy Barr) that the DCCC is targeting in 2026. These guys are vulnerable, and they’re in tough districts. They have a lot to lose by not playing their cards right. I set the bar pretty low: Do they have official and campaign accounts on X, Facebook and Instagram? And, perhaps most crucial: Have they posted a video (NOT a news/interview clip) in the last 7 days?
So….yeah. Pretty much all 33 passed with flying colors when it came to whether or not they had both campaign and official accounts on all 3 platforms. A few of them weren’t on Instagram. 8 of them had campaign accounts but hadn’t posted on them since 2024 or even 2022. Nearly every single one had posted across the accounts they DID have in the last 7 days. 3 of them neglected only their Instagram accounts in the last week. But here’s the real clincher: Out of all 33 members I analyzed, only 7 had posted a video in the last week. 7. And 2 of those videos were like, shakey iPhone footage of them filming some scenery like a factory or a lake (I think?). But hey, better than nothing, right?
This is a small sample and we can’t over-extrapolate. I get that. And perhaps things will pick up as campaign season heats up. Very possible. And maybe their posting cadence IS better than some on the left. And guess what? Some of them show a lot of promise actually on the social media front. Derrick Van Orden: I might now be a fan? Lots of potential and I can tell he’s funny. Rob Wittman: Dude! Bring back the Friday fish videos! (IYKYK). Gabe Evans: You’re under 40! I know you can do better! But here’s my point: This narrative that somehow Republicans won because we’re just so amazing at social media…I mean, we definitely have our moments. But so do the Dems. And yes, let’s take credit when and where it’s due, but let’s also A) not get complacent - we can obviously do better, video is king, etc etc, and B) not let the Dems off the hook with this. They lost because their ideas suck - not because their candidates don’t understand social media.
Final takeaway: post more video. The end.
Final, final takeaway: I’m not gonna name names or anything, but some of these campaign websites still make me want to 🤮🤮🤮
—Evette in the House
South Carolina Lt. Governor Pamela Evette launched her campaign for governor this week at an event in Greenville. Ya’ll: this primary is gonna be NUTS. As I’ve said before, in a state this red with a basically non-existent Democrat Party, the only people to fight are fellow Republicans and primary politics down here are stickier than an August afternoon in Charleston. Anywho, back to Pamela. She’s got some big dogs in her corner and from everything I’ve heard, her launch event was standing room only and was apparently followed by a record-breaking fundraising haul. But let’s talk about the launch/hype video. The internet (the corner that cares) is deeply divided. Look, I like Evette (ask me about the time I met her in Costco), but that doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore my checklist for what makes a good launch video. You all know my biggest pet peeve these days is candidates not speaking themselves, directly into camera. Like, why. That said, I know this is being billed more as a hype video - less of a traditional announcement video - so maybe she gets a little bit of a pass for relying so much on Trump and McMaster to do her talking. The other thing…It’s so….vibe-y? Can we make that a thing? I think a lot of it is great. I like the effort it’s making to be more internet-y and cool. My only question is this: Is this the real Pamela Evette? She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who wants to be portrayed with red laser eyes, and as consultants we have to be SO careful to avoid trying to create a false online image of our candidates if there’s no follow-through. I hate to keep pointing to the Kamala Harris example, but her campaign was so online and the digital version of her never matched the real life version of her. My fear is Evette will fall into this trap if she isn’t careful. Anyway, I think I’m leaning more Team Donehue and am ok with this video - as long as she has the goods to keep backing up this vibe!
Who’s Spending Where
Industry Watch
A couple things I’m flagging this week:
Google used AI to analyze and draw lessons from 4,700 YouTube ads. I think the takeaways are mostly things we already know, but I found it to be a good read/refresher nonetheless. Read about it here.
I also came across this blog post about implementing AI Share buttons on your website. Full disclosure: I’m not sure how I feel about this or if there’s really an application here for political campaigns. Do we want to actively encourage voters to summarize our candidates’ positions with the help of AI? Maybe not. Then again…there’s that whole “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” thing. For those interested, the author of this post also has an AI share url button creator tool here.
2025-2026 Watch
Candidates are already slinging ads in the Wisconsin 2026 gubernatorial race. Bill Berrien, who recently announced his bid, is spending $400,000 on digital, radio, and TV ads.
Matt Heilala is running for governor of Alaska. There are now 6 candidates in the GOP primary to replace Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Jonathan Bush (yes, of THAT family) might run for governor of Maine.
State Rep. Steve Toth has announced a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
In South Carolina, State Sen. Josh Kimbrell - who’s running for governor - got hit with a lawsuit from a former business partner. He recorded a video to address it head-on, which you can watch here.
South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman is expected to launch his own gubernatorial campaign on July 27.
Will Bill Huizenga jump into the Michigan Senate race?
The Grapevine
How ‘bout that Texas Senate race, huh? This site is…quite something. H/t to a friend for flagging.
Rep. Cory Mills is in some hot water with his landlord. Maybe just don’t tweet about it, buddy.
Nancy Mace’s team has a Mace War Room X account now. Judge for yourselves!
Also, what the literal heck is going on with Winsome’s campaign??? Someone plz explain.
Last but not least, this blog post from PDG is great. I read it top to bottom, and you should too!
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:
First: At least one Dem candidate has heard the lefty consultant class’ warning. Meet Chuck Hubbard, who’s running to unseat Rep. Virginia Foxx in North Carolina. Love it or hate it, this guy is putting himself out there. Good for him. Really folks, this is all you have to do. Just record a video. Make it substantive. Be likable. Post it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Second: A progressive group called Movement Labs is offering cash prizes to groups who offer ideas on how to increase turnout in New Jersey and Virginia this year.
From the other side of the tracks:
This overview of how The Boston Globe is using its ad budget to grow its subscriber base sounds a lot like digital strategists in the political space. Meeting people where they’re at, connecting with the right audiences, showing not telling…Rings a bell! Goes to show that at the end of the day, good strategy is good strategy - regardless of industry.
Before you go…
Did you answer this week’s One Question? It takes five seconds!
Access the Doomscroll archive here.
Consider forwarding Doomscroll to your friends!
