Read on Twitter
Since we& #39;re about to enter the 40 days and 40 nights, long dark journey of the soul phase of this thing, I wanted to say a little about where we& #39;re at, and some details about the @waytoleadus program from my personal perspective as a sort of informal advisor/stan of theirs.
Full disclosure: @jenancona is leading a truly kickass team on this. And I& #39;m lucky to be working for a couple clients in this space. But even if I wasn& #39;t, I& #39;d be obsessed with this problem. Here& #39;s why.
When I first started out getting involved, we did a lot of door knocking. Wasn& #39;t my favorite thing. (It& #39;s worth it. You learn a lot, and sometimes it will blow your mind.) But what I hated the most was hearing some crappy TV ad on while we were at a door having a conversation.
The truth is, the people who create and run paid media on the Dems side have not kept up their side of the bargain with all the incredible hard work that goes on at the local and grassroots level. Remember this, from last year? https://twitter.com/DanAncona/status/1171847506478501888?s=20">https://twitter.com/DanAncona...
Unfortunately, that problem even worse at the Senate level. I don& #39;t know exactly how these decisions get made (I know a little), but the strategy for way, way too many Dems is to run as moderate Republicans and hope no one notices the D next to their name in the booth.
The track record for this strategy is absolutely abysmal. Heitkamp. Bill Nelson. McCaskill. Alison Lundergan Grimes. This cycle, some of the candidates are trying the same approach. Maybe it will work this time. Either way, you can& #39;t have too much insurance.
It& #39;s fantastic that all the Senate candidates are getting firehosed with money post RBG, may her memory be a revolution. Unfortunately, lots of money + bad strategy and bad creative gets you the same result as no money + bad strategy.
You& #39;re wondering - just how bad is the strategy, really? I have a bunch of data sitting here about what everyone& #39;s calling the "High Potential" (formerly infrequent or sporadic) base voters, but this thread is getting a bit long already.
If there& #39;s interest, I& #39;ll write more on the High Potentials when I get a chance. But to summarize: holy CRAP are there ever a lot of them. WAY bigger than the swing universe in most (but def not all) of the states in play. And they& #39;re (again, mostly) quite a bit more diverse.
And while it& #39;s a little hard to say for sure, there& #39;s a preponderance of evidence suggesting the High Potential Base is not getting enough love. Why this is is complicated, but it has ramifications not just for the election, but for whether this country is going to be governable.
And as it turns out, the @waytoleadus program is a whole calvary aimed right at this strategic opportunity. Think Gandalf on the morning of the 5th day at the battle of Helms Deep, or the Dothraki at Winterfell. Details on the program here ... https://twitter.com/waytoleadus/status/1307052022160556035?s=20">https://twitter.com/waytolead...
Or if you& #39;re already persuaded, direct link to donate here -
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/waytolead?refcode=dfa-t1
And">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wa... wherever you are donating, reading, volunteering or pitching in - thank you for what you are doing!
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/waytolead?refcode=dfa-t1
And">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wa... wherever you are donating, reading, volunteering or pitching in - thank you for what you are doing!
