The INs and OUTs of 2024
Doomscroll 1.7.2024
Hello and welcome to the first 2024 edition of your favorite newsletter! Last year, Doomscroll debuted on January 8, which means we’ve been doomscrolling together for a whole year now. Wow. Thank you for the support, the tips, and most of all - for reading this darn thing! I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas and New Year’s. But now that we’re officially in the year which will DECIDE THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY, there’s lots to cover! So let’s get down to business.
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered the One Question from December 17, in which I implored you to air your grievances! I must say, I got some pretty juicy responses. Full disclosure: I’m not going to print the ones that are confusing (to me at least) or personal between those of us in the industry (lawmakers are 100% fair game, however). We’re all on the same team, mis amigos! If we’re gonna sling arrows in Doomscroll, I’d rather sling ‘em towards the other side. But as always, I really do appreciate everyone who participates in answering the One Question and never do I begrudge the person (or people!) who uses it as a forum to anonymously vent. ANYWHO…Here are just some of those grievances:
The vendors still using 30000% matches
Leadership’s digital programs. Mike Johnson’s team takes forever to approve surrogate content/never approves. Even for incumbents in close races. McCarthy’s digital team would approve stuff in minutes. I miss McCarthy’s digital team. Scalise steals content…a lot. If you have something pop-off on prospecting, guarantee Scalise rips it off the next day. Emmer’s texts are annoying. If get another, “I’ve texted you 1, 2, 3, 4, FIVE times” type text I’m gonna lose it (but won’t unsubscribe, obviously). Elise is alright. No qualms with her.
I’m a Democratic operative who reads this newsletter because I’m frustrated by how little we are spending on paid digital and by how little we are willing to learn from what Republicans do well on organic digital.
I wish campaigns and committees would be forward with who they are.
Fire Ronna and throw the baby out with the bathwater -- I'm over the RNC
My grievance is Ronny Jackson, but more specifically, his mouth. I think every one of my House clients at one point in the cycle has said something like, "Ronny Jackson said he raised [insert obscene amount] online. Why aren't we raising as much as him?" Then when we write hard-hitting Ronny Jackson-esque copy for said clients, they are taken back. Some are even appalled. Last month I even had a client say to me, "We can do just as good as Ronny Jackson without mentioning Trump." Really? You think milquetoast copy you approve will out-perform the guy who's an ALL CAPS pro-Trump maniac on Twitter? If anyone from Ronny's team is reading this, please tell the boss to keep it to himself!
This week’s One Question has me jumping on a trend I’ve been seeing a lot this week about things that are “in” for 2024 and things that are “out.” So when it comes to digital on the right this year, what’s in and what’s out? Let me know! I’ll even go first:
In:
Long-form video
Relational organizing online
Out:
Match promises
Taylor Swift references
Include as many as you want!
Who’s Doing What
--Some house cleaning
I’m going to start this section this week with a bit of a heads-up: I love you all, but I’ve been noticing some sloppy mistakes in p2p and email copy lately. Yes, I scrutinize the majority of stuff that enters my inbox. No, I’m not naming names or providing screenshots, but it’s time to straighten up! I know the eggnog of December made it hard to focus, but now that we’re in January, it’s time to right the ship. No more unforced errors. Sharpen those eyes. Clear that head, and let’s get to work. We have races to win! That is all. (Don’t worry, I’m talking to myself here as well!)
--Bad Blood?
Am I the last person to notice that MaziPilip.com redirects to GeorgeforNY.com? If so, whoops. If not, you’re welcome. Either way, I implore anyone even remotely thinking about running for office to buy their name as a domain. Sheesh. This stuff shouldn’t still be happening in 2024.
--Tar Heel Tussle
I haven’t talked about it much here in Doomscroll, but I’ll be paying close attention to the North Carolina gubernatorial race this year. Incumbent Dem Gov. Roy Cooper is term-limited so it’s an open seat and the stakes are high. Republicans haven’t had a good track record with the NC governor’s mansion for the last few decades, but here’s hoping things change this year! The Republican primary field isn’t overly crowded, but front-runner Mark Robinson leaves a lot to be desired - for some, at least. Then there’s conservative businessman Bill Graham. He’s already got the backing of Sen. Thom Tillis, which helps. I didn’t analyze his launch a couple months ago, but he had a nice announcement video and has a decent website. He’s got an excellent and very nicely-branded social presence. His new ad, though, is what caught my eye this week. I think it’s extremely effective in tying liberal politicians and progressive politics to fentanyl-related deaths in North Carolina. These ads are a dime a dozen, but this one sticks. Don’t ask me why - it’s a gut feeling. But kudos to Graham.
--Grub Gate
Talk about BIZARRE. As in, it’s bizarre that someone of Mayra Flores’ generation thinks they can get away with stuff like this. Per the Texas Tribune:
In a bizarre micro-scandal that some have dubbed “GrubGate,” a former GOP congresswoman who is running for her old seat in South Texas is being accused of routinely stealing photos of Mexican food from other social media accounts and passing them off as her own cooking.
Flores says she didn’t “intend to mislead” anyone, but as my mother used to say: “I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.”
Why, Mayra, Why? People: Don’t do this.
2024 Roundup
It’s all about them ads, ya’ll.
Chris Christie has an ad called “Up to you” Watch it here.
He also has an ad in New Hampshire called “This Choice.” Watch it here.
Oh, and he also has another ad in which he apologizes for endorsing Trump in 2016. Watch that one here.
NH Gov. Chris Sununu filmed an ad for Nikki Haley. Watch it here.
Pro-DeSantis super PAC Good Fight is running an ad featuring Casey DeSantis. Watch it here.
Another DeSantis Super PAC, Fight Right, is up with an anti-Haley ad. Watch it here.
Not to be outdone, Haley Super PAC SFA Fund is out with an anti-DeSantis ad. Watch it here.
And… what is this tweet? Woof.
Axios looked at Donald Trump’s social media influence and found that it’s not what it used to be (not that it seems to matter). Read the piece here.
Something I missed over the holiday: The Lincoln Project (yuck) ran an ad attacking Trump for…smelling bad? Read about it here.
The Nikki Haley campaign reported raising a crap ton of money in Q4 - with $16.25 million of it coming from digital and mail. Read more about it here.
Vivek Ramaswamy dumped all over broadcast advertising over the holiday, prompting much criticism and mockery from consultants up and down the line. And I get it. His explanation was overly defensive and critical. But hey, that’s the Ramaswamy we’ve come to know and love, right? The digital strategist in me would love nothing more than his gamble to pay off. I mean, can anyone reading this really dispute the idea that broadcast advertising is “basically the most expensive [method] with least measurable results”?
Who’s Spending Where
From 12/28 to 1/3, the top conservative spender on Facebook was The Daily Wire with $194,000. AFP Action spent $157,000 on ads backing Nikki Haley. Liberty Defender Group spent $133,000 on some pro-Trump ads. Fourth and fifth place go to The Daily Wire (Jordan Peterson’s page) at $102,000 and Matt Walsh via The Daily Wire at around $73,000.
During that same time period, SFA Inc was the top conservative spender on Google at $122,000. An advertisers named “Fiona Ching” spent $97,000 on pro-Trump ads slinging merch, while Make America Great Again INC spent $44,000 on a 30-second anti-Haley ad. SFA Fund Inc came in fourth place with $36,000 in ad spend, while Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee came in fifth place with $23,000 in spend.
P2P
Industry Watch
Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler is back on the national political scene trying to give Republicans a leg up in the campaign tech space.
She shared plans with POLITICO to roll out RallyRight, a technology company that offers a suite of products: DonateRight, a donation processing service intended to rival major players like WinRed; FieldRight, a gig economy app that connects canvassers to campaigns; and RelayRight, a texting tool.
…
Loeffler’s fundraising platform builds on technology purchased from top GOP firm Targeted Victory. She’s betting that DonateRight can compete with WinRed — which has boomed since launching in the 2020 cycle — by offering lower transaction fees, 3.5 percent to WinRed’s 3.94 percent. DonateRight also avoids tactics that can lead to donor fatigue, like automatically signing people up for recurring donations or sharing donor data with other vendors. But price and features aren’t everything, and WinRed still offers scale that may make it a more attractive choice for federal campaigns.
Longtime readers of Doomscroll know I’m a bit obsessed with the Republican tech stack…or lack thereof. I welcome all new entrants into the arena - albeit with a healthy dose of skepticism! Time will always tell.
The Grapevine
Jordan Libermann has a fantastic piece over at Campaigns and Elections that you should read. Check it out here.
Politicoin is hiring! See openings here.
Apparently Parler is coming back!
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Fav Christmas carol? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Over Christmas, Biden Victory Fund ran some hyper-local ads on Facebook in the Milwaukee area. I’m…impressed. It’s so basic, but something that’s so often overlooked in advertising campaigns on the state and national level. Ya’ll: We can’t forget local issues matter to voters a great deal. So…bookmark this.
From the other side of the tracks:
YouTube guru Paddy Galloway posted a short Twitter thread with some of his best channel growth trips. Definitely worth a read.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!