Campaign Trend Podcast

In this episode of the Business of Politics Show, host Eric Wilson is joined by Caleb Smith , the Digital Communications Director for the Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. Caleb discusses the critical role technology plays in political communication, emphasizing the importance of audience engagement and adaptability in messaging. He talks about the challenges of staying up-to-date with emerging...

Fire up your dial up modems because we’re going old school today – our guest first started working in digital politics back in the 1990s. Colin Delany is the founder of epolitics.com, an award-winning website covering the field of digital politics and online advocacy. He’s also a digital strategist and consultant for campaigns and non profits. Colin is out with the 2023 edition of his book – How t...

In this episode of the Business of Politics Show, host Eric Wilson engages in a conversation with Brian Athey, Chief Creative Officer at Push Digital, a renowned digital agency in Republican politics. The discussion revolves around the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative realm of politics. Brian shares concrete examples of how AI is currently being employed for various camp...

Adam Schaeffer is founder and chief behavioral scientist of Evolving Strategies , a behavioral science and data analytics firm using experiments and AI to modify voter behavior. He has a PhD from the University of Virginia and has done stints at AEI and Cato. In our conversation we learn more about what the Left is doing with behavioral science, what Republicans can do to catch up, and how new tec...

We’re joined today by Jason Belich , a coder, systems architect, and technologist based in San Francisco with over 25 years of experience developing mission-critical architectures and systems. He recently wrote about the need for a Republican Tech Manhattan Project to win in 2024 and beyond.   In our conversation we dig into the Left’s advantage in Big Tech, what the Right is missing, and how we c...

Today we’re talking with Tom Newhouse , VP of Digital Marketing at Convergence Media. Tom has had a lengthy career in digital campaigning. He was formerly the Digital Director at the National Republican Congressional Committee and for the last six years he’s been leading digital efforts for Convergence’s roster of candidates, PACs, and organization. We’re talking Artificial Intelligence today. Why...

I wanted to share with you a modified version of a talk I gave recently at Campaigns & Elections Campaign Tech conference here in DC. It was informed by many of the conversations you’ve already heard on the show and I wanted to share with you how I’ve synthesized those into a way forward for political online fundraising.  Visit our website: CampaignTrend.com

Our guest today is Michael Beach , CEO of Cross Screen Media , a leading CTV activation managed service for marketers and agencies. Before starting Cross Screen he was one of the co-founders of Targeted Victory and he had an extensive political career in the field prior to that. In our conversation we dig into the nuts and bolts of building a business on the cutting edge of political technology. ...

Today we’re welcoming Dante Vitagliano back to the show. He’s the founder of Trailmapper whose software helps Republican campaigns upgrade their major-donor fundraising program. We last spoke to Dante in December 2021 ( listen here ). In this episode we’re getting caught up on his progress, hearing his lessons learned, and sharing advice for new entrepreneurs. Visit our website: CampaignTrend.com

Today’s conversation is all about the state of campaign tech on the Left. Higher Ground Labs, the Democrats’ startup ecosystem hub, recently released their annual Political Tech Landscape Report which you’ll find linked in the show notes. If you’ve ever seen the very crowded chart of all the tech Democratic campaigns use, you know this report.  We’re digging into the report and sharing key insight...

Our guest today is Terry Sullivan , partner at Firehouse Strategies , a leading public affairs firm, but for the purposes of our conversation today, Terry was the campaign manager of Senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign where he also had the honor of being my boss. He’s played a senior strategic role in more than 100 campaigns from the bottom of the ballot all the way to the top. In to...

Our guest today is John Hall , partner at Apex Strategies, a new firm focused on building sustainable fundraising programs. Prior to starting his own firm, he was President of Targeted Victory where he collected over 48 million individual contributions and raised more than $1.5 billion. In our conversation, you’ll learn why it’s so critical for Republicans to narrow the online fundraising gap, wha...

Our guest today is Shannon Chatlos of Strategic Partners & Media , a full-service advertising and consulting agency based in Annapolis, Maryland. Shannon leads the firm’s digital team serving clients that include political campaigns, associations, advocacy clients, and corporations. In this episode we discuss the evolving paid media landscape online, how it’s changing the way campaigns are run...

We’re doing a deep dive into the topic of social listening on this episode. For those of us working in the public affairs and political space, we want to know what’s being said about our candidates, policy issues, and more. But the challenge is there’s so much data and so much noise that it’s hard to separate what matters. That’s where social listening comes in. To help us understand, we’re joined...

After listening to this episode, you’ll know all about connected TV advertising for campaigns. While broadcast TV ad budgets continue to grow on campaigns, more voters are watching streaming services – many of which are ad-supported – so campaigners are shifting their budgets. Keith Norman , head of political sales at Premion , is going to be our expert guide today. He has an extensive resume in a...

We’re joined today by Amanda Elliott , a political digital strategist and author of the Doomscroll , a newsletter about the world of digital politics on the Right. Previously she was Digital Director at the Republican Governors Association and she’s been innovating in the digital campaign space for more than a decade. In our conversation today, you’ll learn more about the RGA, the unique challenge...

This episode is all about political text messaging. Why are campaigns turning to this old-school tech as a reliable method for getting out the vote and raising money? How do campaigns tap into the power of texting without becoming annoying? We’re digging into all that and much more. To help us understand, we’re joined by Jack Bobin, Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Tatango , an ind...

Our guest today is Tyler Brown , he’s the president of Hadron Strategies , a digital public affairs agency. He was formerly the Director of Digital Strategy at the Republican National Committee where he worked for four election cycles. In our conversation we dig into the differences between digital marketing for campaigns and public affairs. This episode is sponsored by Campaign HQ . If you’re loo...

Ken Mika is the CEO of Politicoin , a new digital fundraising firm. Ken was previously director of email marketing at the RNC during the 2020 cycle and he’s worked on a number of campaigns with a focus on fundraising. In our conversation today, we look forward to what’s next for the fundraising landscape in 2024.  Visit our website: CampaignTrend.com

This episode is all about the Republican National Committee - the RNC - what it is, who’s on the committee, and the organizations role within the broader Republican party. To help us understand, we’re joined by Saul Anuzis , managing partner of Coast to Coast Strategies and president of the 60 Plus Association , the conservative alternative to AARP. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party...

Our guest today is Ron Nehring . His extensive resume includes former Chairman of the California Republican Party, he was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor and he was national spokesman for Senator Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign. In our conversation we dig into his post-election takeaways and where Republicans can improve before 2024. For Republicans reviewing 2022, time to ask...

Today, we’re digging into a topic that’s on everyone’s mind after the 2022 midterm elections and that’s the mechanics of absentee and early voting – which for short hand most people refer to as “AB/EV” and we’ll do for the rest of the show. To help us understand all of the ins and outs is someone who has a lot of experience with get out the vote operations. Matt Dailer was most recently campaign m...

Adam Wise is a Senior Vice President at National Media Research, Planning & Placement , where he helps clients develop and execute paid advertising campaigns. In this episode we dig into the challenge of measuring digital ad spend, how to build media plans in a fragmented landscape, and what campaigns can do to better integrate their paid campaign into other efforts.  Visit our website: Campai...

On today’s episode, we’re having a free-flowing discussion about the current status of online fundraising for campaigns. We’ve seen recent polls confirm what we know anecdotally that voters - not just activists - are getting burnt out by aggressive fundraising tactics. What should political professionals do with this information? To answer that question and more, we’re joined by two experienced di...

Josh Nelson is the CEO of Civic Shout whose motto is “surprisingly easy email & SMS acquisition for your progressive cause or campaign”. He’s a vocal critic of the status quo when it comes to online fundraising practices on the Right and the Left. Civic Shout just released a poll that asked Democratic and Democratic leaning Independents view email and SMS fundraising by campaigns. We dig into...