Hello Merge Tag: Where Social Media and Politics Intersect

Congressman Mark Pocan represents Wisconsin’s second district. He’s a small business owner, a labor union member and a surprisingly good magician! Along with serving on the Appropriations Committee, he’s served as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and serves as chair of the Equality Caucus and co-chair of the Labor Caucus. To say his politics are righteous is an understatement. While he is never one to shy away from a fight with Republicans at any level of government, or from those who put the needs of corporate profits over those of working families, I invited him on the podcast to talk about one very specific, and public, fight he’s currently involved in: and that’s his fight with AIPAC. He held nothing back. He shared that he sees what they are doing in Democratic primaries as a "Trojan Horse" way for them to "circumvent democracy" and talked about their "insidious" path to undermine the Democratic process. He expressed great concern that if AIPAC's current methods are successful, that we will see groups like the NRA following in their path. Along with AIPAC, we spoke about: TikTok and whether it's actually a national security issueThe "full-blown cult" that the Republican party has becomeWhy he's so comfortable getting attacked by powerful enemiesThe best ways to keep in touch with elected officials (and why you should reach out to them, even about issues on which you agree)Magic Mondays And a whole lot more! Listen now at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts. Connect with Congressman Pocan: WebsiteCongressional TwitterCampaign TwitterFacebookInstagramTikTok

“Where the memes are and where the conversation is, is constantly evolving.” ------ Nancy Leeds is a veteran political operative with over 18 years of experience in the field. She has worked on Democratic campaigns all over, from Minnesota to California to Arkansas, as well as with several politically oriented non-profits.  She is also the author of Campaign Sick, a job serve and blog about best practices in electoral politics and campaign management.  Nancy recently launched CampaignSick Consulting, a management consulting and recruitment practice specifically focused on the progressive ecosystem.  Nancy rose to some campaign Internet fame during the 2012 election cycle when she started her Tumblr. It began as a knockoff of a then popular Feminist Ryan Gosling meme and evolved from there. She was, in many ways, the Organizer Memes of the cycle. If you missed it, I recently hosted Organizer Memes on the podcast. “Nancy walked so I could run” is what they had to say about Campaign Sick. Nancy used her meme fame to launch a more serious blog, sharing advice and tips for organizers and campaign operatives. In the years that followed, she also became a trainer and launched her jobserve. Throughout our conversation, we spoke about: How the internet has changed since Nancy launched Campaign SickThe rise and fall of different social platforms How campaign culture has changed, and what it’s meant for the new generation of campaign staff and their comfort level as they’ve become more open to discuss what’s happening behind the scenes on their campaignsHow campaigns have taken off the gloves and become willing to hit other campaigns - even within their own partyThe importance of candidates keeping it authentic, at risk of looking “like a dork.”Where downballot campaigns should be spending time onlineWhat’s happening with Tumblr And a whole lot more! Listen today at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts. Find all links referenced and additional resources at HelloMergeTag.com.

Hilary Stohs-Krause, a senior software engineer at a cybersecurity startup, discusses the importance of unique and long passwords, using password managers, setting up 2fa, watching out for social engineering, and backing up data. She also talks about the benefits of paranoia when it comes to sharing personal data and offers insights on updating devices and recognizing fake notifications.

Deepak Puri, an engineer and Silicon Valley exec, discusses using free and affordable tech solutions for progressive campaigns. He shares his favorite tools, including Lumen five for rapid response videos and Esri for mapping demographics. They also explore creating accessible content, AI learning models, and bridging the gap between organizers and tech experts.

If you work in Democratic politics, you probably know Organizer Memes. If you don’t… well you probably don’t spend too much time on Twitter. Organizer Memes is one part voice of the people, one part movement psychologist, one part anonymous messaging board, one part influencer and one big old part expert meme artist extraordinaire. Memes, as they refer to themselves, is always spot on with the perfect meme for whatever is going on at the moment in the political world… and beyond. But follow them on Twitter and you are equally likely to find some fire meme as you are to see a sensitive question asked anonymously from some staffer, intern or activist looking to get involved in the movement. There is truly no other account on the internet like Memes. We checked in with Memes and had a beast of a conversation. Throughout our time, we covered:  How this project came to be — it’s “a Spartacus type of thing” — “we are all Memes”What the popularity and success of the account means for the field — “it’s a condemnation of the industry we work in” — and the role they play in holding bad actors accountable — “people need to know there are consequences for their actions…”They’re working philosophy of who they’ll hit and how hard —"it’s okay to attack democrats, but never equate them with Republicans"Their fascinating — and early — role in the Senator Menendez story 👀What we in the movement can learn from the far fightWhere they would have the party invest moving forward, if they were in charge — there were a lot of answers here, but the biggest one to emerge was, without a doubt, Twitch (!!!). TikTok and influencers would also both play significantly larger rolesWhy this account took off the way it did (beyond just killer memes of course) — “People come to me because I’m sad when they’re sad and I’m happy when they’re happy. We go through the same thing together at the same time. And there’s power in that solidarity. That is why it works.”The excitement of seeing Biden truly invest in digital and take their digital program so seriouslyThe power — and importance — of hope!What a digital-first campaign looks like and why the party should be heading in that direction Their frustration with the party’s inability to invest in digital — “We can’t invest in digital until it’s tested, but we can’t test it until we invest in it.”How memes (the format, not the account) have changed for the party — they went from unacceptable to constantHow to incorporate memes into your campaign organization in order to create endless viral momentsThe importance of being fast — “The early meme catches the worm”How they make their memesAnd sooooo much more My biggest takeaway from our conversation was that, while this account seems fun and funny on the surface (and it’s obviously both of those things!), it also comes from a place of mission, frustration and passion to improve not just the world, but also the Democratic Party. Memes is using the account to fix the broken power dynamic between the folks at the top of the industry and those with less power — giving voice to the voiceless. “It all boils down to: people’s voices need to be heard.” Or to put it another way: come for the memes - stay for the tea. ——— Throughout the conversation, Memes also offered a ton of shoutouts for other people doing great work in the movement.  Here are a few notable mentions:  Taylor Lorenz Campaign Sick Jeff JacksonEd MarkeyJon OssoffAOCMrBeastBradley WhitfordAnnie Wu Dear White StaffersAnderson Clayton Beto O’Rourke DSAHasan AbiGAIN Power Listen today at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts.

Gina Keller co-founded Distill Social, an independent media nonprofit based in Michigan. With a focus on effectively messaging to millennial, Gen Z, and disengaged voters through social media, Distill Social serves as a vehicle for driving meaningful change in the digital age. One of the tools in their messaging arsenal: TikTok . They launched their account just 18 months ago. But in that time, they've wracked up almost 90k followers, millions of likes and tens of millions of views. Throughout our conversation, we talked about Best practices to grow your audiencesWhat sets TikTok apart from other social media channelsThe benefits of going localThe dos and do not for running ads on the platform (while political campaigns cannot run ads, advocacy orgs can!)Tips and tricks for finding trending content and so much more And wait until you hear her story about mobilizing events via TikTok. The numbers are literally mindblowing! Tune in today and get ready to step up your TikTok game! Listen to all episodes of Hello Merge Tag at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts.

We checked in with Beth Thorpe, Digital Director for Colonel Pam Stevenson, candidate for Kentucky Attorney General. We talked about scaling intimacy through digital, why Col. Pam is lighting a fire with the youth in Kentucky, how Beth got her start in politics and so much more. Connect with Colonel Pam at PamForAG.com and find her on all the social channels at @PamForAG. Find Beth on Twitter at @BethinLouavul. Listen to our full conversation at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts.

A while back, a conservative organization acquired our email address and started spamming us with one of the worst email marketing programs we've ever seen. This was next-level bad. So bad in fact that we just had to write up some takeaways we could learn about writing better emails from their no-good-very-bad-what-is-even-happening-here email program. We covered 9 key takeaways: 1) Don’t Buy Email Lists 2) Onboard New Signups To Your List 3) Subject Lines Matter 4) Preview Text Also Matters 5) Spell Check Is Your Friend 6) Formatting Is Also Your Friend 7) Keep Your Calls To Action Clear 8) Preview Your Draft Before Sending 9) Write For Mobile… Or At Least For The Internet! This episode of Hello Merge Tag was adapted from a blog post published in March. You can find that blog post - along with loads of screenshots - here. We also mentioned a blog post that shared the story of a political campaign selling their email to a group that went on to open support one of their opponents. You can find that post here. This episode also references an episode of our other podcast Step Up Your Social where we talked about using customized bitly links. You can find that episode here. Have anything to add to our key takeaways? Share them with us at hellomergetag.com or with our host on Twitter.

Kyle Tharp is the managing editor of FWIW, a newsletter and media company that tracks the internet’s influence on our politics. Every week they break down digital spending, strategy, tactics, and trends in our elections. They highlight whose spending is up, whose is non-existent, and how campaigns, PACs and advocacy groups are leveraging online platforms to effect social + political change. He also runs Campaigner, an interview series that explores the tactics that drive winning campaigns and highlights the players pushing the buttons. We checked in with Kyle and throughout our conversation, we covered a ton of ground. How his media company FWIW News came to beHis process for social listeningThe tools he can’t live withoutThings he’s reading, watching, and paying attention toHis thoughts on the future of TikTok The Twitter/Substack battle and how it’s hurting newsletter creators like himAnd so much more According to Kyle:  “I saw a gap in traditional political press coverage. There’s kind of a lack of knowledge of how the digital space works among the traditional DC political press core. I’m really trying to help fill that gap there by educating readers and journalists alike on different forces that impact our politics.” As avid readers of FWIW, we can attest that Kyle does a phenomenal job of filling that gap. Tune in to our conversation today and learn more. If you haven’t already, subscribe to his newsletter today at FWIW.news and then follow Kyle on Twitter @kylewilsontharp and @fwiwnews. Find all episodes of Hello Merge Tag at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts.

Join the discussion with Candy Phelps, a web design expert, as she shares insights on creating effective campaign websites. From budget considerations to SEO strategies, learn how a well-optimized website can help win an election. Discover essential elements, branding tips, and key questions to ask when building your campaign site.