Xena Ni, Co-Founder of the Trestle Collaborative joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the world of civic technologists and the need to help progressive organizations and campaigns to use technology safely and effectively. She contrasts the resources and mandates of commercial tech with those of the political and non-profit sectors. The mission of Trestle is to provide resources and support to leverage technology, build a strong campaign infrastructure, and protect against cyberattacks.

Deepak and Xena talk about

• Motivation for entering civic tech from Silicon Valley success
• Using free and low-cost digital technology as an amplifier
• Overcoming the severe underfunding of technology by campaigns and advocacy groups
• Security and campaign tech

#TrestleCollaborative #TheDemLabs #CivicTech #CampaignTechnology #VoterEngagement #GrassrootsActivism #ProgressiveActivism #CivicEngagement #GOTV #GetOutTheVote #PoliticalActivism #DemocracyInAction #VoterOutreach #DemocracyMatters #ElectionSecurity #ElectionIntegrity #ProgressivePolitics #CampaignManagement

Trestle.us

TheDemocracyLabs.org

Josh Justice, CEO of Peerly, focuses on the evolving role of text messaging in political campaigns, particularly the shift from mobile optimization to a mobile-first communication strategy. The dominance of texting and reliance on small screens have driven the shift from simple SMS to text messaging with full HD and 4K video, and campaigns are thinking about content and advertising in new ways. Using AI responsibly builds in efficiency and scalability to target and engage more voters.

Josh and I talk about:

• How text messages using video in motion integrated with AI tools offer a highly targeted, cost-effective way to deliver campaign messages compared to traditional advertising
• Avoiding text message slop
• Opportunities for personalized interactive mobile communication to drive engagement and turnout
• Using AI to process inbound text message responses, enabling sentiment analysis, and simultaneously canvassing large numbers of voters

#Peerly #VideoInMotion #CampaignTech #PoliticalInnovation #DigitalOutreach #VoterEngagement #MobileStategy #AI #PoliticalCampaigns #VideoTexting #MobilePolitics #CampaignStrategy #PeerToPeerTexting #DigitalCampaigns #PoliticalTech #CampaignInnovation

Peerly.com

Adam Ditch Kurtz, a Democrat, is running for governor of Tennessee in a race with 4 candidates competing in the August Democratic primary. A career musician, Ditch is building a grassroots campaign informed by his live performance experience and long-term use of social media to communicate authentically and respond rapidly to voters. He outlines his strategies for reaching rural and working-class voters and engaging the established political machine.

We talk about

• The current political climate and appeal of an outsider running for public office
• Using social media to build an authentic personal brand and connect directly with an audience
• Most effective tools for reaching rural and working-class voters across Tennessee
• Breaking through voter apathy and distrust of traditional politicians

#Ditch4Governor #Ditch4Gov #Ditch26 #ImPeople #DitchDiggers #WhoDoesThisHelp #TennesseePolitics #GrassrootsCampaign #AuthenticLeadership #MusicianInPolitics #TennesseeGovernor #DemocraticPrimary #PoliticalInnovation #VoterEngagement #SocialMediaPolitics #TennesseeVoters

Ditch4Governor.com

Tomas Garduno, organizer and activist, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the power of the working class and what tools are necessary to organize and mobilize this diverse cohort. After 25 years of political experience, Tomas has written the Fundamentals of Electoral Organizing to support this community and encourage more people to get involved. He points out that the electoral arena offers a unique opportunity for the working class to leverage its numerical strength against those with extreme wealth.

Deepak and Tomas talk about

• Need to overcome the artificial divisions of party and identify politics to unite people around shared material interests like housing, food access, and healthcare
• Primary obstacles to working-class power
• Who can be an organizer
• Practical skills for organizing communities for action

#FundamentalsofElectoralOrganizing #TheDemLabs #ProtectingDemocracy #VoterEngagement #Democracy #WorkingClass #GrassrootsActivism #GrassrootsOrganizing #Organizing #Activism #VoterTurnout #CivicEngagement #GOTV #GetOutTheVote #PoliticalActivism #DemocracyInAction #DemocracyMatters #ProtecttheVote #ElectionSecurity #CommunityOrganizing #PoliticalEducation #SocialChange

FundamentalsofElectoralOrganizing.org

TheDemocracyLabs.org

Stephen Schear, activist and billboard expert, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss a strategy to penetrate the right-wing propaganda machine by placing billboards with concise, visually powerful, and often negative messages in purple rural areas. Stephen details the logistics of creating, funding, and placing these kinds of billboards, emphasizing their cost-effectiveness.

Deepak and Stephen talk about

• Why billboards are persuasive in rural communities
• Media habits of voters who believe false claims
• Collaborating with local county Democratic parties to target persuadable voters
• The value of negative advertising and ridicule in exposing political lies

#PoliticalBillboards #TheDemLabs #VoterEngagement #GrassrootsActivism #ProgressiveActivism #VoterTurnout #PoliticalAdvertising #RuralOutreach #PoliticalMessaging #CivicEngagement #GOTV #GetOutTheVote #PoliticalActivism #DemocracyInAction #VoterSuppression #VoterOutreach #DemocracyMatters

steveschear@gmail.com

TheDemocracyLabs.org

Michael McNulty, Policy Director at Issue One, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss fixing democracy through campaign finance reform, election protection, big tech accountability, and defending the constitutional powers of Congress from executive overreach. The SAVE Act and Save America Act are identified as partisan attempts to create significant barriers to voting based on a false narrative of widespread voter fraud.

Deepak and Michael talk about

• Lessons learned from international work observing authoritarian tactics to undermine elections
• Coordinated efforts underway to rewrite election laws and install loyalists in key government positions
• Details of the SAVE Act and Save America Act and how they are being presented
• Action that can be taken to protect democracy and combat voter suppression and disinformation

#IssueOne #TheDemLabs #ProtectingDemocracy #VoterEngagement #Democracy #GrassrootsActivism #VoterTurnout #CivicEngagement #GOTV #GetOutTheVote #PoliticalActivism #DemocracyInAction #SAVEAct #SaveAmericaAct #ElectionIntegrity #VoterSuppression #DemocracyMatters #ProtecttheVote #ElectionSecurity

IssueOne.org

TheDemocracyLabs.org

Chris Nolan, Founder of Spot-On, points out that political consultants often overlook local news sites in favor of national sites with large audiences and programmatic advertising capabilities. Local news sites offer highly effective geographic targeting and audiences engaged in current events and their communities. With shifting loyalties to political parties and a move towards issue-based decisions, local news publishers have an opportunity to play a larger role in down-ballot races.

We talk about:

• Why direct ad buys on local news sites can be more effective and financially smart for reaching voters in specific districts than complex targeting campaigns based on broad data analytics
• Engagement level on local news sites and their newsletters
• History of news organizations moving to a digital environment
• The Spot-On Pinpoint Persuasion Platform

#PinpointPersuasionPlatform #PoliticalAdvertising #LocalMedia #LocalNews #CivicEngagement #VoterOutreach #MediaBuyers #PoliticalTech #CampaignStrategy #TargetingVoters #HyperLocalMarketing

spot-on.com

Pinpoint Persuasion Platform

Erin Miller, Founder of Cartoons for Democracy, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss using postcards to enable people who can't canvass due to age, location, or time constraints to support campaigns. A political cartoon on one side of a postcard with a handwritten note is an eye-catching way to communicate a message quickly and humorously to a broad audience, and it is proving effective at getting attention from voters.

Deepak and Erin talk about

• Why postcarding is a crucial tool for activism and complementary to other tactics
• Finding ways to overcome digital disinformation
• Role of the Campaign Postcard Captain
• How cartoons and humor can bypass literacy and attention span barriers to plant a seed about an idea

#CartoonsForDemocracy #TheDemLabs #PostcardCampaign #VoterEngagement #Democracy #PoliticalCartoons #GrassrootsActivism #VoterTurnout #Postcarding #CivicEngagement #GOTV #GetOutTheVote #PoliticalActivism #DemocracyInAction

CartoonsforDemocracy.org

TheDemocracyLabs.org