Campaigns
How the Business of Politics Became a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry
Campaigns & Elections
“The shift to a more professionalized, specialized industry developed hand-in-hand with rapid advancements in technology, Cohen and other industry veterans said. The 1990s and early 2000s were defined by the debut of new tactics. The launch of the first presidential campaign websites during the 1996 election cycle. The Bush campaign’s microtargeting and list segmentation of church groups in 2004. Former President Barack Obama’s vaunted digital operation during his 2008 White House run.”
Google scraps Gmail ‘blacklist’ that labeled GOP fundraiser emails ‘dangerous’ — and sent them directly to spam
New York Post
“WinRed reached out to SURBL directly about the apparent bias, and on Aug. 20 the Dutch firm responded that it would remove WinRed from its blacklist, according to an email reviewed by The Post. The email, however, stopped short of explaining why WinRed was blocked in the first place.”
Fundraising
ActBlue acquiring Dem digital firm as its mission grows
Politico
“It is a notable expansion of ActBlue’s mission, which has primarily focused on online fundraising. The platform is now expanding into texting and digital outreach, which have become increasingly important to campaigns over the past decade as online organizing has grown.”
International
How Gen Z protestors chose Nepal’s first woman prime minister on Discord
The International
“The outlet reported that one server with more than 145,000 members hosted a debate about who could be an interim leader. Over the week, multiple polls were held by representatives of the protest movement on the social media platform Discord to nominate possible leaders.”
Technology
Meta created its own super PAC to politically kneecap its AI rivals
The Verge
“Meta confirmed that the company plans to spend tens of millions of dollars as part of the initial investment and said that it would figure out who had ultimate decision-making power over candidates to back, and whether Meta’s own social media products were used to promote those candidates, once the super PAC was up and running.”
How To Choose The Right Technology For Your Campaign
Campaign Trend
“Campaigns often wait too long to sign up for tech platforms in hopes of saving money. The truth: every week you delay is a week you’re underinvesting in the infrastructure you need to win.”
White House
Anti-Trump influencers flood the White House’s new TikTok account
Washington Post
“A White House official shared TikTok platform data showing that the account had more views over a recent two-week period than some top Democrats and provided internal numbers suggesting that 30 percent of its followers hadn’t followed the Trump campaign account — a sign, the official said, that the administration was reaching an untapped audience.”