50 new york | december 23, 2019–january 5, 2020
votes in Jwebsite thabase with a dedicavote.bots on Mby a jusinternet. There was, of course, Russian disinformation and
Macedonian fake news, but also there was a social-media strategy
based on ironic memes, conspiracy signaling, and invented con-
tent that has since become de rigueur in the Republican Party.
For instance, in November, on the first day of impeachment hear-
ings, the Arizona congressman Paul Gosar, elected in the tea-
party wave of 2010, crafted a 23-tweet thread defending the
president. Together, the first letters of each tweet spelled out
“Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
This election cycle, Democrats are again struggling to compete.
Lefty Twitter is active and funny but is
mainly devoted to tearing down cen-
trist-seeming Democratic candidates
(like “Mayo Pete,” as his extremely
online antagonists have christened
him). Instead, almost all of the most-
viral content is coming from the
Trump right. A video of Joe Biden
massaging his own shoulders was cre-
ated by a Kansas-based meme-lord
who goes by Carpe Donktum and was
invited to the White House over the
summer. Both Donald Trump and
Donald Jr. tweeted it out. The parody
site JoeBiden.info—now advertising
joe biden touched me T-shirts, in
what looks like official campaign
font—was created by someone work-
ing for Trump’s reelection campaign.
After climate activist Greta Thunberg
was named Time’s Person of the Year,
the campaign Photoshopped Trump’s
head onto her body and used the par-
ody cover in a tweet.
“If you talk to Democratic institu-
tions, they have a research team; they
have a mobilization team that has an
earned-media, paid-media, and
social-media person. They have all
these silos,” Hougland says. Trump, by
contrast, understands that “it’s not
paid or earned. Not fake or real. Not
machine or human. Not foreign or
domestic. All part of the same dis-
course.” (And, not insignificantly, he’s
also outspending all the leading Dem-
ocrats online.)
Democrats are trying to course-
correct. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoff-
man has emerged as an internet-first
megadonor whose resistance-y fund
In vesting in Us is backing the political
tech accelerator Higher Ground Labs
(not to be confused with Higher
Ground Productions, the Obamas’
Netflix shop), which is in turn funding
Hougland’s influencer gambit. A lot of
cash is pouring into a buzzy digital
agency called Acronym, led by
Obama world veterans. And then
there’s Mike Bloomberg, who is plan-
ning an unprecedented nine-figure
digital-ad campaign.
It ’s not yet clear what kind of
national appetite there is for that kindof sponsored Instagram posting. Politicians have balked at paying
influencers, and it’s harder to get social-media personalities to create
pro bono content for individual candidates than for causes, like
abortion rights or climate change. For the most part, Beshear pre-
ferred volunteers, and as a result, many of the 122 influencers who
flacked for him in Kentucky looked less like apolitical moms and
more like activists—which wasn’t ideal.
It’s one thing to invest in digital media. It’s another to get a dis-
tractible and polarized electorate to pay attention to it, and bend
the rules of polite discourse in your direction. Especially if to “go
low,” as Michelle Obama decreed, goes
against implicit party rules. “We his-
torically have tried to be very controlled
and disciplined with our messages,”
says Higher Ground Labs co-founder
Shomik Dutta. “But while you may
have more integrity, [you] are limited
to where it can go and where you can
push it. So we need a way around that—
without losing our integrity.” Or, as one
staffer for an expired Democratic presi-
dential campaign put it to me, “I think
the difference between the Republicans
and the Democrats is the Republicans
have no compunction about creating
content that’s complete bullshit.”Why doesn’t the
left have its own
Breit bart? David
Brock, the Clinton
dirt digger turned
loyalist, asked him-
self the same ques-
tion. He presides
over the massive Democratic opposi-
tion-research shop American Bridge.
Once upon a time, American Bridge
was cutting edge. It started the video-
tracking revolution, deploying dead-
eyed camerapeople to trawl Republican
events around the country. By late
2016, Brock, reeling from Hillary Clin-
ton’s loss, announced he turning his
pro-Clinton website Shareblue into a
“Breitbart for the Left.” Now rebranded
the American Independent, the site has
built up an impressive following, but its
HuffPost-style journalism doesn’t seem
to have made a dent outside the liberal
bubble. A handful of nimbler outfits
have begun experimenting.
The first major opportunity came
in late 2017 before the special election
between Doug Jones and Roy Moore
for the Alabama Senate seat vacated
by incoming at torney general Jeff
Sessions. Watching from New York
was David Goldstein, a buzz-cut
40-year-old who lives on Roosevelt
Island. He had worked in the Obama
years for A-list Democratic polling
firms and in 2017 was employed at a
midtown PR firm. Goldstein is a self-
taught data analyst with an intense,#Sponcon, a meme,
and microtargeted news.➼THREE ATTEMPTS AT
ONLINE PERSUASIONPHOTOGRAPH: KAELIN DUNN / @DUNNFAMILYFUN. ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE: DIMISLAVA TODOROVA/ GETTY IMAGES.TRANSMITTED TRANSMITTED________ COPY ___ DD ___ AD ___ PD ___ EIC2619FEA_OppositionResearch_lay [Print]_36426188.indd 50 12/18/19 4:41 PM50 newyork| december23,2019–january5, 2020
internet. There was, of course, Russian disinformation and
Macedonian fake news, but also there was a social-media strategy
based on ironic memes, conspiracy signaling, and invented con-
tent that has since become de rigueur in the Republican Party.
For instance, in November, on the first day of impeachment hear-
ings, the Arizona congressman Paul Gosar, elected in the tea-
party wave of 2010, crafted a 23-tweet thread defending the
president. Together, the first letters of each tweet spelled out
“Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
This election cycle, Democrats are againstrugglingtocompete.
Lefty Twitter is active and funny but is
mainly devoted to tearing down cen-
trist-seeming Democratic candidates
(like “Mayo Pete,” as his extremely
online antagonists have christened
him). Instead, almost all of the most-
viral content is coming from the
Trump right. A video of Joe Biden
massaging his own shoulders was cre-
ated by a Kansas-based meme-lord
who goes by Carpe Donktum and was
invited to the White House over the
summer. Both Donald Trump and
Donald Jr. tweeted it out. The parody
site JoeBiden.info—now advertising
joe biden touched me T-shirts, in
what looks like official campaign
font—was created by someone work-
ing for Trump’s reelection campaign.
After climate activist Greta Thunberg
was named Time’s Person of the Year,
the campaign Photoshopped Trump’s
head onto her body and used the par-
ody cover in a tweet.
“If you talk to Democratic institu-
tions, they have a research team; they
have a mobilization team that has an
earned-media, paid-media, and
social-media person. They have all
these silos,” Hougland says. Trump, by
contrast, understands that “it’s not
paid or earned. Not fake or real. Not
machine or human. Not foreign or
domestic. All part of the same dis-
course.” (And, not insignificantly, he’s
also outspending all the leading Dem-
ocrats online.)
Democrats are trying to course-
correct. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoff-
man has emerged as an internet-first
megadonor whose resistance-y fund
In vesting in Us is backing the political
tech accelerator Higher Ground Labs
(not to be confused with Higher
Ground Productions, the Obamas’
Netflix shop), which is in turn funding
Hougland’s influencer gambit. A lot of
cash is pouring into a buzzy digital
agency called Acronym, led by
Obama world veterans. And then
there’s Mike Bloomberg, who is plan-
ning an unprecedented nine-figure
digital-ad campaign.
It ’s not yet clear what kind of
national appetite there is for that kind
of sponsored Instagram posting. Politicians have balked at paying
influencers, and it’s harder to get social-media personalities to create
pro bono content for individual candidates than for causes, like
abortion rights or climate change. For the most part, Beshear pre-
ferred volunteers, and as a result, many of the 122 influencers who
flacked for him in Kentucky looked less like apolitical moms and
more like activists—which wasn’t ideal.
It’s one thing to invest in digital media. It’s another to get a dis-
tractible and polarized electorate to pay attention to it, and bend
therulesofpolitediscourseinyourdirection.Especiallyif to“go
low,” asMichelleObamadecreed,goes
againstimplicitpartyrules.“Wehis-
toricallyhavetriedtobevery controlled
anddisciplinedwithourmessages,”
saysHigherGroundLabsco-founder
ShomikDutta.“Butwhileyoumay
havemoreintegrity, [you]arelimited
towhereit cangoandwhereyoucan
pushit. Soweneeda wayaroundthat—
withoutlosingourintegrity.” Or, asone
stafferforanexpiredDemocraticpresi-
dentialcampaignputit tome,“I think
thedifferencebetweentheRepublicans
andtheDemocrats is theRepublicans
havenocompunctionaboutcreating
contentthat’s completebullshit.”Why doesn’t the
left have its own
Breitbart? David
Brock, theClinton
dirt digger turned
loyalist,askedhim-
selfthesameques-
tion. He presides
overthemassiveDemocraticopposi-
tion-researchshopAmericanBridge.
Onceupona time,AmericanBridge
wascuttingedge. It startedthevideo-
trackingrevolution,deployingdead-
eyedcamerapeopletotrawlRepublican
eventsaroundthe country.Bylate
2016,Brock,reelingfromHillaryClin-
ton’sloss,announcedheturninghis
pro-ClintonwebsiteShareblueintoa
“BreitbartfortheLeft.”Nowrebranded
theAmericanIndependent,thesitehas
builtupanimpressivefollowing,butits
HuffPost-stylejournalismdoesn’t seem
tohavemadea dentoutsidetheliberal
bubble.Ahandfulofnimbleroutfits
havebegunexperimenting.
Thefirstmajoropportunitycame
inlate 2017 beforethespecialelection
betweenDougJonesandRoyMoore
fortheAlabamaSenateseat vacated
byincomingat torneygeneralJeff
Sessions.WatchingfromNewYork
was David Goldstein, a buzz-cut
40-year-oldwholivesonRoosevelt
Island.He hadworkedintheObama
yearsforA-listDemocraticpolling
firmsandin 2017 wasemployedat a
midtownPRfirm.Goldsteinis a self-
taughtdataanalyst withanintense,#Sponcon,a meme,
andmicrotargetednews.➼THREE ATTEMPTS AT
ONLINE PERSUASIONPHOTOGRAPH: KAELIN DUNN / @DUNNFAMILYFUN. ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE: DIMISLAVA TODOROVA/ GETTY IMAGES.