Campaign Trend Podcast

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 to Use The Internet to Change the World and Win ElectionsSubscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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 campaign creative tasks, and explores the potential of AI in scaling ideas and accelerating productivity. The episode delves into the limitations of AI in graphic design tasks and emphasizes the importance of human creativity and authenticity in political campaigns.Episode Highlights:AI as a Tool for Task Performance: Brian explains that AI should be viewed as a tool to delegate repetitive tasks, aiming to expedite processes and enhance ideation. By conditioning AI with specific instructions and formulaic patterns, it can generate a multitude of variations quickly and efficiently.Scaling Ideas with AI: Eric and Brian discuss the role of AI in scaling creative ideas. They highlight how AI, such as chat GPT, can assist in generating content, questions, and solutions, thereby accelerating the creative process and offering new perspectives.The Limitations of Visual AI Outputs: While AI can assist in generating logos, brand concepts, and marketing copy, Brian emphasizes that AI-generated outputs may lack authenticity and quality. Human creativity and intuition remain essential in refining and executing ideas effectively.The Gray Area of Ethics in AI: The conversation delves into the ethical considerations surrounding AI in campaign creativity. Brian acknowledges the gray area in determining ethical boundaries and the potential for AI-generated media to mislead the public. Eric emphasizes the importance of disclosure when using AI-generated content to maintain transparency.Tools for AI-driven Creativity: Brian mentions several tools, including Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, and Motion, that leverage AI to streamline creative processes. These tools offer features such as photo editing, video editing, transcribing, and automating marketing cycles.The Future of AI in Politics: Eric and Brian discuss the future implications of AI in politics. They raise concerns about content saturation, loss of authenticity, and the need to engage voters meaningfully. Balancing the efficiency of AI with ethical considerations remains a challenge in the industry.Conclusion:The episode concludes with insights into the intersection of AI and political campaign creativity. Brian emphasizes the potential of AI as a powerful tool to expedite tasks, scale ideas, and automate processes. However, he also highlights the importance of human creativity, intuition, and authenticity in delivering impactful campaigns. The conversation raises ethical questions about the responsible use of AI in political campaigns and the need for transparency in AI-generated content.Additional Resources:Push DigitalAdobe ExpressAdobe FireflyMotionSubscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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 tech can help make political advertising more effective. Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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 can fix it. Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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 is it in the news, how is it being used in politics, and what do political professionals need to know about this exciting new technology? Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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. Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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. Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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.Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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 insights about this rare glimpse into what the other side is working on. Our guests:Matt DailerAmanda ElliottSubscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider

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 today’s episode we’re talking about presidential primary announcement season which is well underway. What preparations are candidates making, why are they so coy when everyone knows they’re running, and what comes next? We dive into all that and more.Subscribe on YouTube: Visit the Campaign Trend Website: Follow us on X Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our Newsletter Become a Campaign Trend Insider