The digital trends operatives want to ditch in 2024

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May 08, 2023 View in browser   By Madison Fernandez TOP LINE Sure, everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence and its influence on campaigns heading into 2024. But that doesn’t mean all the other technologies that shape campaigns are just going to disappear — including the ones that strategists wish would. Score spoke with more than a dozen operatives at CampaignTech East, a confab of digital campaign experts at National Harbor last week, to see which digital trends they hope campaigns ditch in the 2024 cycle. Here’s what they had to say: Courtney Sieloff, founder and CEO of Woolf Strategy, a progressive firm: “The scary, mean, ‘I’m going to steal your dog’ emails.” Austin Fiala, director of client strategy at Convergence Media, a Republican firm: “Definitely the somewhat misleading tactics that have kind of been inherent to the Republican fundraising space in the past. … Thankfully after 2022 and with everybody, including candidates, being very turned off by how the final months of that went, we are definitely seeing a lot of movement in the space for that.” Eric Wilson, managing partner of Startup Caucus, a Republican incubator: “Low-quality, dragnet fundraising techniques that aren’t targeted to people who are qualified, likely donors.” Emily Karrs, creative director at IMGE, a Republican firm: “Treating their small-dollar donors without respect. … Don’t send them threatening emails and fake deadlines and shouty messages. Treat them like the trusted and valued partners they are.” Mia Logan, senior vice president at Precision Strategies, a Democratic firm: “SMS. I know that’s controversial. Stop texting me, get off my phone. I can’t believe it works. I know it works, but I just cannot believe it works.” Madeline Twomey, founder and president of Rufus And Mane, a progressive firm: “SMS fundraising. I think people are burning it to the ground. … I think people are using it like it’s the new email, I think we’re going to burn it out real quick rather than treating people with respect in their own phones and their own inboxes.” Atima Omara, founder of Omara Strategy Group, a progressive firm: “I would really love to see actual, thoughtful engagement that is not just [text] blasts.” Taryn Rosenkranz, founder and CEO of New Blue Interactive, a Democratic firm: “A gazillion social media posts at a time when there’s just not much going on. … I hope some of that pressure for them to do mindless content that’s not relevant actually goes away a little bit because we are receiving so much information from so many different places, it makes information more important when it’s not all the time.” Nicole Cairns, partner at FOGLAMP, a Democratic firm: “Hiring the digital team last. We have to launch campaigns’ websites within three business days, and I don’t think clients get the best results for it.” Laura Carlson, chief digital officer at the Democratic Governors Association: “Jumping on something because it’s trendy and it’s not true to their candidate. I think that’s something that as we get more and more new social platforms, as our media landscape gets more and more fragmented, people can tell if you’re being true to yourself and your campaign and your story.” Carter Kidd, senior vice president and COO at Campaign Solutions, a Republican firm: “I hope they ditch the churn and burn [of content].” Kate Conway, partner and chief creative officer at Assemble the Agency, a progressive firm: “Spending too late. I think people blitz the advertising landscape the closer you get to an election, and it really should be a longer-term conversation. The earlier you could work digital in at a low rate and ramp up toward the election, the more authentic and nuanced that conversation becomes.” Alex Muir, principal at WPA Intelligence, a Republican polling firm: “The tendency to throw yourself on a diversity of platforms and use their internal tools at the exclusion of thinking through what you want to get out of something. Talking about their internal algorithms, they’re optimized to do something, but that something’s probably not what you want.” Ashley O’Rourke, director of analytics and audience insights at Majority Strategies, a center-right firm: “I hope we see the end of poorly-targeted digital advertising,” she wrote in. “It’s incredibly frustrating when you see organizations you already agree with wasting their valuable resources in an attempt to persuade you to support their cause.” Ryan Fanning, chief of staff at DSPolitical, a Democratic firm: “Continuing to overinvest on TV in lieu of a true integrated media plan.” Henri Makembe, CEO of Do Big Things, a progressive firm: “The launch video. … It’s typically very short to tell the whole story of the candidate and how they’re going to make their community better. They usually try to pack in way too much into way too little time and end up saying nothing.” It’s Monday. Reach me at mfernandez@politico.com and @madfernandez616. Days until the Kentucky primary: 8 Days until the Mississippi primary: 92 Days until the Louisiana primary: 159 Days until the 2023 election: 183 Days until the 2024 election: 547   GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGSITER HERE.     Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories. CAMPAIGN INTEL ABORTION ON THE BALLOT — Planned Parenthood and partner organizations are launching an effort to put abortion on the ballot in Florida next year, POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg and Megan Messerly report. The measure proposes letting the patient’s health care provider determine fetal viability. Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban into law. KENTUCKY HORSE RACE — With just about a week to go until Kentucky’s gubernatorial primary, POLITICO’s Steve Shepard breaks down what you need to know about the race. It was a big weekend in the Bluegrass State, and candidates took advantage of the crowds at Churchill Downs. Read more on campaigning at the Kentucky Derby over the weekend from the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Tessa Duvall. WHAT REPUBLICANS WANT — National GOP leaders hope Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) bows out of running for reelection — or are privately wishing his flirtations with a centrist presidential run turn into a full-fledged campaign, POLITICO’s Holly Otterbein and Ally Mutnick report. “Without Manchin on the ballot, many operatives see the state as an automatic flip, and Republicans can redirect their money toward other crucial battleground states.” IT’S A NO FROM ME — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) is still mum on her reelection plans, but did say that she would not become a Republican. “You don’t go from one broken party to another,” the former Democrat said to Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” REDISTRICTING WATCH — “Facing the possibility of an unsafe district, South Carolina’s most powerful Democrat [Rep. Jim Clyburn] sent his aide to consult with the GOP on a redistricting plan that diluted Black voting strength and harmed his party’s chances of gaining seats in Congress,” ProPublica’s Marilyn W. Thompson writes. DEMS AND CRIME — Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is touting legislation toughening the state’s bail laws, linking the issue to 2024 — “a preemptive strike on the GOP,” POLITICO’s Anna Gronewold writes. “The move marks an early attempt to gain the high ground after Republicans last year seized on the state’s bail laws as evidence Democrats are weak on crime, fueling embarrassing losses for House Democrats in New York. The governor’s new strategy could shape next year’s House races, and maybe even control of Congress. But it could also prove a tough and complicated sell to voters.” NO MORE NORCROSS — George Norcross, the New Jersey businessperson and Democratic power broker, is “ready to dramatically scale back his political activities and shift his focus to other professional and personal interests,” POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi reports. “It is a ground-shifting moment in New Jersey politics — one that could reshape the state's Democratic Party and change the way things get done in Trenton. His decision also has implications for Democrats nationally because he has been a key behind-the-scenes player in fundraising and recruitment.” LEGAL CORNER — FEC commissioners offered different opinions when it came to the question of regulating political campaigns and AI. At CampaignTech East on Friday, Democratic Commissioner Shana Broussard said, “I think the disclaimer rules have some potential adaptability to be able to address [artificial intelligence],” referring to a recent ruling from the commission that requires political ads on the internet to disclose who’s paying for them. “But when it comes to AI, I don't want the disclaimer to be burdensome.” “I would probably disagree with my colleague a little bit with regard to AI. If it was up to me, we would have as little regulation as possible,” said Republican Commissioner Trey Trainor. “We already have political ads that are filled with disclaimers across the board, and so I don't think that there needs to be more forced speech into that to say that this is content that comes from a certain style.” NUMBERS GAME — There’s a “sharp discrepancy” in this year’s primaries for the 40-member Virginia state Senate: “There are nearly twice as many Democratic nomination contests as Republican ones,” the AP’s Sarah Rankin writes. “As the races start to heat up, the imbalance in numbers has sparked some concerns among Democrats that spending in the primaries could diminish their current financial advantage, limiting their ability to help candidates in the handful of competitive seats that will likely determine party control in the fall.” Presidential Big Board DELEGATE DANCE — Former President Donald Trump has been wooing party leaders who are expected to be delegates, POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt writes. “He’s been dining with them at Mar-a-Lago, chatting them up at party events and offering them endorsements. The effort will intensify in the weeks to come, with Trump expected to make appearances at state party events that will be filled with future national delegates.” WHAT’S NEXT FOR DESANTIS — The Florida legislature’s session ended on Friday, and DeSantis successfully pushed Republican lawmakers to fulfill his conservative agenda, POLITICO’s Gary Fineout, Andrew Atterbury and Arek Sarkissian report. But he “largely sidestepped questions about his political future and a likely presidential campaign but acknowledged that he would clear up any remaining ambiguity shortly.” … DeSantis’ team “is leaning toward skipping the launch of an exploratory committee altogether and is instead expected to launch a full presidential campaign next month,” ABC News’ Will Steakin and Olivia Rubin write. … “Inside DeSantis’s 2024 launch prep: Donor dinners, a more personal pitch,” by The Washington Post’s Hannah Knowles. … Wall Street donors are keeping the door open to backing DeSantis’ competitors, POLITICO’s Sam Sutton and Ben White report. “DeSantis' gubernatorial reelection campaign is still loaded with cash, giving him big advantages over possible competitors. But many now say he no longer seems so formidable — at least on Wall Street.” SLIPPERY SLOPE — Biden’s “overall approval ratings have slipped to a new low, more Americans than not doubt his mental acuity, and his support against leading Republican challengers is far shakier than at this point four years ago,” The Washington Post’s Dan Balz, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin write. See the poll, put out by The Washington Post/ABC News, here. … On the note of his age, Biden defended being an octogenarian running for a second term in his first interview since announcing his reelection bid. “I’m more experienced than anybody that’s ever run for the office. And I think I’ve proven myself to be honorable as well as also effective,” he said to MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. AS SEEN ON TV FIRST IN SCORE — MS LT GOV — True Conservatives Mississippi PAC, a group launched by Quinton Dickerson and Josh Gregory, who have both worked on a number of Mississippi Republicans’ campaigns, is out with a spot hitting Republican Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who’s running for lieutenant governor. It’s the first in a series of ads being released by the group, which is aiming to defeat McDaniel, a far-right figure in the state. LA GOV — Reboot Louisiana, a super PAC backing Republican Stephen Waguespack for Louisiana governor, is launching a $1.75 million TV ad blitz, Nola.com’s Sam Karlin reports. KY GOV — Bluegrass Freedom Action, the super PAC backing Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the GOP gubernatorial primary, is leaning heavily into Trump’s endorsement. PRESIDENTIAL — Actions Speak Louder than Tweets, a group backing DeSantis, is hitting Trump over guns. “Gun owners need a president to defend our rights, and it's not Donald Trump,” the narrator says. … The Great Task, former Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) super PAC, placed its first TV buy of the presidential election. It’s set to run in the New Hampshire market starting Tuesday. FL SENATE — Club for Growth placed its first TV buy in the race for Florida Senate, set to start Monday. The group endorsed incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Scott earlier this year.   DON’T MISS THE POLITICO ENERGY SUMMIT: A new world energy order is emerging and America’s place in it is at a critical juncture. Join POLITICO on Thursday, May 18 for our first-ever energy summit to explore how the U.S. is positioning itself in a complicated energy future. We’ll explore progress on infrastructure and climate funding dedicated to building a renewable energy economy, Biden’s environmental justice proposals, and so much more. REGISTER HERE.     POLL POSITION FIRST IN SCORE — Navigator Research, a progressive firm, is launching Navigating the Battleground, a quarterly survey of 1,500 registered voters across approximately 60 congressional districts, conducted by Impact Research. The surveys will provide messaging guidance in the districts, which include Republican-held districts Trump won; Republican-held districts Biden won; and districts Democratic incumbents narrowly won. “It’s kind of educating the public on the profile of a battleground voter where they're more used to national polling, and I think that's going to be important in setting that conversation,” said Ian Smith, director of polling and analytics at Navigator Research. The first survey is set to be released later this month, and polls will be released through the 2024 election. STAFFING UP — Democrat Gabe Amo, who’s running in the crowded primary for the RI-01 special election, announced his campaign staff. Lauren Garrett is campaign manager. She previously managed Rep. Sharice Davids’ (D-Kansas) reelection campaign in 2022. Other hires include Mindy Myers, Danny Kazin and Sara Zusi, who are leading the television program; Jef Pollock and Melissa Bell, who are leading polling; Isaac Goldberg and Ansley Mendelson, who are leading direct mail; Collin Berglund, who’s leading digital outreach; Kate Ramstad, who’s serving as finance director; and Nina Harris, who’s serving as field director. CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You don’t go to Wausau, Wisconsin, to get cheese curds. You go to get the grass roots talking.” (Former Wisconsin Republican Party executive director Brandon Scholz on DeSantis’ visit to Wisconsin over the weekend to The New York Times)   Follow us on Twitter Steven Shepard @politico_steve Zach Montellaro @zachmontellaro Ally Mutnick @allymutnick Madison Fernandez @madfernandez616   Follow us

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