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Our Insight, Opportunity, and Plan of Attack for 2018
Michael Verdu Chairman, California 2020 |
Insight and Opportunity
Social media contributed in a major way to the Republican victory in the fateful 2016 election.
Trump's digital operation was very sophisticated and very smart.
While Hillary Clinton used an outdated digital playbook from 2008 and 2012, Trump's Digital Director Brad Parscale went big on Facebook and Twitter, surfacing highly relevant but inexpensive ads to tens of millions of people.
Parscale and his firm (Giles-Parscale) accepted help from Facebook directly after the company offered to provide assistance to both campaigns to maximize their use of the Facebook platform. Amazingly, Clinton's campaign declined Facebook's offer.
Parscale's team learned how to make social media work for the Trump campaign. They also figured out how to target their ads more effectively using Trump's donor database as well as registered voter profiles from the Republican National Committee.
The result was "Project Alamo", a combined voter information database, fundraising platform, and political advertising campaign.
From Wikipedia:
Giles-Parscale raised over $250 Million for Donald Trump, primarily through Facebook. Giles-Parscale used targeting tools that are part of the Facebook advertising platform to deliver carefully crafted ads soliciting small donations from specific audiences defined by demographics, interests, and affinities.
In addition to fundraising ads, Giles-Parscale identified 14.4 million persuadable voters in key districts of swing states and targeted political ads at them through Facebook and other social media platforms. The ads were intended to galvanize turnout for Trump supporters and suppress turnout for key Democratic voters. In [a] San Antonio Express News interview, Parscale said of the targeted ads, “That’s why we won. We knew just the voters we needed to turn out and we turned them out in big numbers".
Thousands of ad variants were A/B-tested for effectiveness. Gary Coby, director of advertising at the Republican National Committee, said, "On any given day…the campaign was running 40,000 to 50,000 variants of its ads, testing how they performed in different formats, with subtitles and without, and static versus video, among other small differences. On the day of the third presidential debate in October, the team ran 175,000 variations." Coby called this "A/B testing on steroids."
This was a new level of sophistication in the use of social media in politics. The analytics, data science, tools, and processes used in Project Alamo are the same ones that made Facebook, Amazon, Google, Netflix, and other consumer software titans the most valuable and influential companies on Earth.
Even now, Team Blue hasn't learned its lessons and continues to fight the last war. Most congressional campaigns look at "digital" as a black box and allocate a fraction of campaign spend for ineffective Facebook and Google ads. The most sophisticated lean into Twitter, but primarily as a means of direct communication by candidates to potential voters.
The vast majority of campaign and PAC spending goes into television advertising, direct mail, and direct voter contact (knocking on doors or making phone calls). Digital is often an afterthought. Databases of voter information exist, but they are being used simply to target direct mail pieces and for focusing the efforts of volunteers and canvassers who are reaching out to voters with 1:1 contact.
Trump's digital operation was very sophisticated and very smart.
While Hillary Clinton used an outdated digital playbook from 2008 and 2012, Trump's Digital Director Brad Parscale went big on Facebook and Twitter, surfacing highly relevant but inexpensive ads to tens of millions of people.
Parscale and his firm (Giles-Parscale) accepted help from Facebook directly after the company offered to provide assistance to both campaigns to maximize their use of the Facebook platform. Amazingly, Clinton's campaign declined Facebook's offer.
Parscale's team learned how to make social media work for the Trump campaign. They also figured out how to target their ads more effectively using Trump's donor database as well as registered voter profiles from the Republican National Committee.
The result was "Project Alamo", a combined voter information database, fundraising platform, and political advertising campaign.
From Wikipedia:
Giles-Parscale raised over $250 Million for Donald Trump, primarily through Facebook. Giles-Parscale used targeting tools that are part of the Facebook advertising platform to deliver carefully crafted ads soliciting small donations from specific audiences defined by demographics, interests, and affinities.
In addition to fundraising ads, Giles-Parscale identified 14.4 million persuadable voters in key districts of swing states and targeted political ads at them through Facebook and other social media platforms. The ads were intended to galvanize turnout for Trump supporters and suppress turnout for key Democratic voters. In [a] San Antonio Express News interview, Parscale said of the targeted ads, “That’s why we won. We knew just the voters we needed to turn out and we turned them out in big numbers".
Thousands of ad variants were A/B-tested for effectiveness. Gary Coby, director of advertising at the Republican National Committee, said, "On any given day…the campaign was running 40,000 to 50,000 variants of its ads, testing how they performed in different formats, with subtitles and without, and static versus video, among other small differences. On the day of the third presidential debate in October, the team ran 175,000 variations." Coby called this "A/B testing on steroids."
This was a new level of sophistication in the use of social media in politics. The analytics, data science, tools, and processes used in Project Alamo are the same ones that made Facebook, Amazon, Google, Netflix, and other consumer software titans the most valuable and influential companies on Earth.
Even now, Team Blue hasn't learned its lessons and continues to fight the last war. Most congressional campaigns look at "digital" as a black box and allocate a fraction of campaign spend for ineffective Facebook and Google ads. The most sophisticated lean into Twitter, but primarily as a means of direct communication by candidates to potential voters.
The vast majority of campaign and PAC spending goes into television advertising, direct mail, and direct voter contact (knocking on doors or making phone calls). Digital is often an afterthought. Databases of voter information exist, but they are being used simply to target direct mail pieces and for focusing the efforts of volunteers and canvassers who are reaching out to voters with 1:1 contact.
Our Plan of Attack
At the heart of California 2020 is a small group of people with backgrounds in data science, analytics, communications, and social media. We're committed to make a difference.
We see the opportunity to use the Project Alamo playbook to change the game in 2018. But rather than use social media platforms to spread fear and division like Trump did in 2016, we will educate, energize, and empower Democratic and Independent voters to make a difference.
The key to this election is turnout. Voters in key races need to know that they can actually affect the outcome in 2018. That their individual contribution to the political process can help stop Trump and restore sanity. That the election will be decided by a few thousand votes.
Every vote really does count.
We are reaching hundreds of thousands of potential voters through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to deliver a message of empowerment. We are appealing to their patriotism. Reminding them of the stakes. Making sure they understand that they are in a position to make a difference - individually and collectively.
Control of the House and Senate may be decided by a few thousand votes. This mid-term election is really, really close.
We started operations in the 49th district (which is why this website is so 49th-centric). However, as new people have joined us and we've been able to raise money - and we've seen how effective our message can be - we've expanded into the 39th, 45th, and 48th districts as well as the Nevada Senate race.
As of October 20, 2018, we have already reached over 500,000 people who could vote in some of the most important races in the country. We know our online social media reach is 5x-10x more effective than TV commercials. By election day we hope to have reached over 750,000 people.
None of us can sit on the sidelines right now. There is too much at stake. We must protect the values and rights that generations before us fought so hard to secure and that we are now at risk of losing. We have a responsibility to our children and grandchildren as well as the most vulnerable citizens among us. We all must fight back.
You can help.
California 2020 has expanded our team with volunteers. We spent over $100,000 in the primary election to get a Democrat on the final November ballot. We have raised the money we need for the general election campaign. However, we are looking for small contributions as an expression of support for our mission. Please chip in $5 to show your support. The breadth of our donor base is a manifestation that people care and are committed to bring about a change.
Our pledge to you is to keep you informed. We will keep you updated about the status of our campaign and how we think we are doing. And when it's all over, we'll give you a report card. We believe in transparency, accountability, and closing the loop with you. If you trust us with your money, we owe you an accounting.
Together we can win this thing... and stop the Trump agenda.
We see the opportunity to use the Project Alamo playbook to change the game in 2018. But rather than use social media platforms to spread fear and division like Trump did in 2016, we will educate, energize, and empower Democratic and Independent voters to make a difference.
The key to this election is turnout. Voters in key races need to know that they can actually affect the outcome in 2018. That their individual contribution to the political process can help stop Trump and restore sanity. That the election will be decided by a few thousand votes.
Every vote really does count.
We are reaching hundreds of thousands of potential voters through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to deliver a message of empowerment. We are appealing to their patriotism. Reminding them of the stakes. Making sure they understand that they are in a position to make a difference - individually and collectively.
Control of the House and Senate may be decided by a few thousand votes. This mid-term election is really, really close.
We started operations in the 49th district (which is why this website is so 49th-centric). However, as new people have joined us and we've been able to raise money - and we've seen how effective our message can be - we've expanded into the 39th, 45th, and 48th districts as well as the Nevada Senate race.
As of October 20, 2018, we have already reached over 500,000 people who could vote in some of the most important races in the country. We know our online social media reach is 5x-10x more effective than TV commercials. By election day we hope to have reached over 750,000 people.
None of us can sit on the sidelines right now. There is too much at stake. We must protect the values and rights that generations before us fought so hard to secure and that we are now at risk of losing. We have a responsibility to our children and grandchildren as well as the most vulnerable citizens among us. We all must fight back.
You can help.
California 2020 has expanded our team with volunteers. We spent over $100,000 in the primary election to get a Democrat on the final November ballot. We have raised the money we need for the general election campaign. However, we are looking for small contributions as an expression of support for our mission. Please chip in $5 to show your support. The breadth of our donor base is a manifestation that people care and are committed to bring about a change.
Our pledge to you is to keep you informed. We will keep you updated about the status of our campaign and how we think we are doing. And when it's all over, we'll give you a report card. We believe in transparency, accountability, and closing the loop with you. If you trust us with your money, we owe you an accounting.
Together we can win this thing... and stop the Trump agenda.
Why We Fight
Like many Americans, my wife and I were devastated on election day in 2016. On November 9th we felt like we woke up in a different country, one that we didn't recognize.
Within a few months we also realized that Trump wasn't just a repudiation of our values, he was an existential threat to our democracy, our most vulnerable citizens, and the environment.
Along with complicit GOP majorities in both houses of Congress, he is corroding faith in our public institutions because he does not honor or respect the truth.
He dehumanizes immigrants, talking about them as "animals" and an infestation, paving the way for policies of cruelty like indefinite detention, family separation, and "Zero Tolerance" prosecution of all applicants for asylum at the border.
He is destroying the international order that the United States helped build after World War II, one that has kept the peace for decades. He is cozying up to dictators and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses. If all that weren't enough, he has launched a trade war.
He is reshaping the Supreme Court for a generation, directly threatening the rights of women and immigrants.
He is fiscally irresponsible on a staggering scale, creating gigantic annual government deficits that will reach $1 trillion per year in 2020 and increase the national debt to $33 trillion by 2028.
He has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords and will cynically subsidize dirty coal power plants in the name of "national security".
He divides us and appeals to the worst in us, stoking anger and fear, turning us against each other, and scapegoating those who are powerless.
He continues to undermine Obamacare and the ideal of universal health care, most recently attacking coverage of pre-existing conditions (one of the most important building blocks of health care security for all of us).
At home and abroad, the United States no longer stands for what it used to.
We cannot accept this. We are fighting back. It's rare that the Republic calls upon us to be patriots in the truest sense. This is one of those times, and we hear the call.
The battlefield is clear: A few key races that will determine control of the House and Senate.
Within a few months we also realized that Trump wasn't just a repudiation of our values, he was an existential threat to our democracy, our most vulnerable citizens, and the environment.
Along with complicit GOP majorities in both houses of Congress, he is corroding faith in our public institutions because he does not honor or respect the truth.
He dehumanizes immigrants, talking about them as "animals" and an infestation, paving the way for policies of cruelty like indefinite detention, family separation, and "Zero Tolerance" prosecution of all applicants for asylum at the border.
He is destroying the international order that the United States helped build after World War II, one that has kept the peace for decades. He is cozying up to dictators and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses. If all that weren't enough, he has launched a trade war.
He is reshaping the Supreme Court for a generation, directly threatening the rights of women and immigrants.
He is fiscally irresponsible on a staggering scale, creating gigantic annual government deficits that will reach $1 trillion per year in 2020 and increase the national debt to $33 trillion by 2028.
He has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords and will cynically subsidize dirty coal power plants in the name of "national security".
He divides us and appeals to the worst in us, stoking anger and fear, turning us against each other, and scapegoating those who are powerless.
He continues to undermine Obamacare and the ideal of universal health care, most recently attacking coverage of pre-existing conditions (one of the most important building blocks of health care security for all of us).
At home and abroad, the United States no longer stands for what it used to.
We cannot accept this. We are fighting back. It's rare that the Republic calls upon us to be patriots in the truest sense. This is one of those times, and we hear the call.
The battlefield is clear: A few key races that will determine control of the House and Senate.