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NEW: Biden camp leaders are clashing on path forward for digital: to hire the Bloomberg-backed firm Hawkfish or to build operation in-house. The digital team is about 25 ppl compared to 100+ for Trump but the internal fight has stalled hiring for a month https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/21/biden-campaign-fights-over-bloomberg-digital-firm-198700
Biden consideration of Hawkfish--which did all the digital for Bloomberg's campaign--has infuriated many Dem digital operatives. "They just spent a billion dollars to win Guam,” said one anonymously.
Kamala digital director @shelbylcole said: 'It would be a colossal mistake”
Kamala digital director @shelbylcole said: 'It would be a colossal mistake”
One Democratic operative who has been in touch with Biden’s team said that the fight inside the campaign has taken on a generational dimension, with older officials more receptive to Hawkfish’s pitches than younger, digitally-native staffers.
Also, it should be noted re: the quote above, Bloomberg's sole victory was actually American Samoa, not Guam.
Hawkfish did not respond to requests for comment, but its defenders dismissed the criticism as professional jealousy from people who may lose Biden’s business.
Hawkfish did not respond to requests for comment, but its defenders dismissed the criticism as professional jealousy from people who may lose Biden’s business.
The outcome of the internal battle will have far-reaching consequences for Nov/Biden/Trump as traditional campaigning — rallies with crowds and get-out-the-vote efforts like door knocking — is now all but impossible, and digital is the campaign.
Trump campaign spokesperson @alipardo confidently said that the Biden campaign spat is moot anyway. “As we have been saying for months, no amount of money can buy Joe Biden the kind of infrastructure our campaign has put in place over the last four years.”
With hiring stalled as they fight over the path forward, the Biden campaign is still spending a lot more online to try to catch up to Trump and have spent $3 million more than Trump on FB and Google since Feb. 29, per Bully Pulpit.
Linked and cited in the story too but credit to @ryangrim who first broke Hawkfish's pitch to Biden world
https://theintercept.com/2020/04/10/bloomberg-hawkfish-biden-campaign/
and @misyrlena who reported yesterday on the no new digital hires https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-18/biden-digital-game-outmatched-by-trump-a-month-into-virtual-race
https://theintercept.com/2020/04/10/bloomberg-hawkfish-biden-campaign/
and @misyrlena who reported yesterday on the no new digital hires https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-18/biden-digital-game-outmatched-by-trump-a-month-into-virtual-race
The argument for Hawkfish is 'why build an internal team when there is one for hire available today w/ Bloomberg cash?'
Bloomberg also put $20 million more into Hawkfish on Mar. 31, weeks after he dropped out as @schwartzbCNBC reported today. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/mike-bloomberg-invested-over-20-million-in-hawkfish-after-drop-out.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar
Bloomberg also put $20 million more into Hawkfish on Mar. 31, weeks after he dropped out as @schwartzbCNBC reported today. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/mike-bloomberg-invested-over-20-million-in-hawkfish-after-drop-out.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar
