Real Talk

Doomscroll 3.15.2026

Mar 15, 2026

Hello and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll - your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right! It’s been a wild week, so let’s get straight to some scrolling.

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Thank you to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about inboxing. I have to say…things got a little spicy. Two-thirds of those who responded said they don’t have any trouble with inboxing at all, which means one-third of you say you’re still on the struggle bus. I sympathize. Anyway, there are 3 reader comments I want to highlight. They’re a little long, but worth reading.

You said you know plenty of republicans who can inbox - name them. If they can inbox why won’t they use the greatest performance marketing platform ever made ( Meta)? Why did James Talarico spend $750,000 on lands before running for senate? Why isn’t anyone else? Are all republicans campaigns and agencies just unaware of Meta? You have to start from first principals. If someone signs up for content from me can I email them? If you are hitting 10% of your list you have bad inboxing. It doesn’t matter if that 10% has 100% inboxing. Focus on the big picture.
Most of the inboxing issues seem to be on the vendor and campaign sides (for revenue and desperation, respectively). For GOP folks, there has always been a three-step moonshot with Facebook: acquisition ad (with vendor mark-up and creative fee), inboxing/email sends/texts (with vendor mark-up), and a certain conversion rate (where the vendor gets a percentage). Dems are much more successful at the one-step Facebook ad = donation conversion. At what point should GOP campaigns focus on one-step (where a net is possible), especially upstart, short-lived operations? Spending disparity on the persuasion side is likely due to GOP's data and targeting advantages, which rightfully minimize Facebook. If acquisition/fundraising isn't separated from mobilization/persuasion in the aggregate, it sure seems like we're all having an academic discussion on apples vs oranges. And sometimes lemons. Sorry I used your Google form in lieu of mean tweets. I think I just did the same thing on an American Airlines form.
REAL TALK: Digital operatives make excuses about Facebook because they don’t know shit about ad optimization. Sure, they know how to place ads and skim 15% off spend, but most don’t want the accountability of having to reliably turn a profit on ads. They don’t know how. It’s much easier to play “monkey see, monkey do” and trick donors into updating their donor profile for the ninety-ninth time before the 500,000% match expires at 11:59 PM (at least until donors get the same email from a different agency tomorrow). By contrast, the ads game is a marathon, not a sprint. Facebook WILL spend whatever you budget and most campaigns WILL lose money at first (learnings), and some may never turn a profit. It’s not for the feint of heart. Most agency fundraisers are hunters, not farmers. They prefer the bull rush, not because it’s better, but because it’s all they know.

To the first commenter: What’s with the ‘tude, dude? I think I do a pretty good job of focusing on the “big picture,” and while I can’t name EVERY Republican who isn’t having a hard time inboxing, I can name one: My name’s Amanda. I’m probably not sending at the volume you are (I’m guessing), but I am sending and nothing has given me any indication that my emails aren’t landing. FWIW. But then there’s this, from the guys at Inbox.GOP that makes me wonder if I’m just not paying close enough attention.

To the second: You make some good points and ask some good questions. And it’s ok, you can use my Google form anytime you want.

To the third: I appreciate the REAL TALK. I suspect half the people who read it are pumping their fists in the air and the other half want to take you out back, which I’m keeping intentionally vague except you know exactly what I mean. But here’s my question: How did we end up in a world where all any of us know to do is pound the proverbial pavement with fake matches and false promises? BACK IN MY DAY we didn’t do shit like that. And no one wants to break the mold until someone else does it first. Give Facebook a chance is all I’m saying. But here’s the other thing: I suspect there’s a weird mental thing going on here. It’s easy (easier) for campaigns to approve emails and texts then agree to a budget for fundraising ads on Meta. It’s like when I buy clothes for my kids and put it on my Old Navy store credit card. Hey, it’s easy! That shit ain’t due until I get a statement (invoice) from my bank (agency) at the end of the month. Emails and texts are cheap. But it’s also why no one wants to invest in building a robust house file. Why do it if you can send for “nothing” and report good-enough numbers. But low-risk, low-reward, am I right? If you’re a fundraising vendor, maybe think about hiring and training someone who’s entire focus is just to figure out how to make fundraising ads work for Republicans. What’s the worst that can happen? Ok don’t answer that.

Moving on. Raise your hand if you saw the post in C&E this week about CampaignGrade - a new website for political campaigns to rate their vendors. LMAO. It’s the brainchild of a 24-year-old Democratic consultant (side note: can you be a consultant at 24 years old??) in Florida. Right now it’s focused primarily on left-leaning and non-partisan vendors, but guys: It could very well be coming for us next. What do we think of this? Good idea? Bad idea? Any of you nervous about how your clients would review you?? If you want to weigh in (or preemptively review someone) smash that button!

This is the button

The above quote comes from NRCC Chair Richard Hudson, as reported by Punchbowl News this week. Hudson also added that those 30 races that will determine the House majority “can be decided by 1,000 votes or less.” Now - why does this matter for us? Aside from the fact that a lot of us are working in these races this year, insights like that are WHY it’s so important we get digital right. I understand the arguments against over-targeting and over-segmenting, but when we’re talking about what it’s going to take to move 1,000 people in these district to the polls…it’s a problem tailor-made for digital operatives. So let’s be sure and seize the moment! Just a thought.

—Security is…Strength?
Real talk: I’ve been getting a lot of ads lately on X from Security is Strength - the pro-Lindsey Graham Super PAC. Makes sense. I’m a South Carolina Republican voter. Most of the ads center around how Graham stands with Donald Trump and super MAGA. This most recent ad though? Uuuhhh…See for yourself:

Ok, interesting...? I knew a little about Graham’s sad family story, but I couldn’t remember all the details and so I clicked the link and went on over to ::squints:: NickiSwift.com where I was greeted with this:

Look, normally gossip or talk about Sen. Graham’s sexuality is not something I’d think was worth covering in Doomscroll. But it IS interesting that Security is Strength is spending money to send people to a blog post that opens with pushing back on the rumors and redirects people on the OTHER reason why Graham may have never married and had kids. I don’t know…just an interesting move given he’s likely going to sail through to re-election this year (don’t get me started!). So why bother with this? Unless they know something I don’t, this seems like an odd thing to spend ad dollars on.

Speaking of Graham World, the senator’s campaign just released an ad calling one of his primary opponents, Mark Lynch, “weird” for pushing medical cocaine. Watch:

Yes, kids. I think we can all agree with Lindsey on this one: say no to cocaine.

—Land of enchanting…videos
The New Mexico GOP needs help. That much is obvious. Could congressional candidate Greg Cunningham be their knight in shining armor? Maybe. The former Marine and police detective, who’s running in the state’s 2nd congressional district just released a launch video that’s, well, pretty great. Watch:

It’s good. It uses his tattoos to tell his story, which from a creative standpoint, is really interesting. It’s a little on the longer side, but he’s got a lot to say and at no point did I get bored and click out early. Well done. Maybe there’s hope for Republicans in New Mexico after all! P.S. his website is pretty good, too.

—OK

Let’s talk about another launch video that graced our timelines this week: Rep. Kevin Hern’s. You gotta hand it to him: the man entered the race for Senate and cleared the field faster than the threat of ice clears bread aisles here in the south. And that’s saying something. But a few things jumped out at me about this video, which overall, I think is pretty good. I like that it’s just a minute long. I like that he’s speaking directly to camera. I like the overarching message that America is the only country that makes a story like his possible. From poverty to Congress - only in America! This is a theme I’ve been seeing a lot lately: the American dream is under attack, is too far out of reach, and needs saving. I hope it resonates, but I also think candidates embracing this pitch are going to have to get specific sooner or later. Save the American dream how? Anyway, I like this launch video - even if it STILL pains me every time a conservative lists Nikki Haley as a RINO to fight back against. Ugh, #Nikki4Ever

Facebook

Google

📈 Nice read on what makes a good Reddit comment and post. Gotta get those up votes!

🤖 Meta has acquired Moltbook. This should end well!

🖼️ Speaking of Meta, the company is changing how ad formats are selected during the campaign set-up process and my first and only question is…why.

👥 This is a great little essay on organic growth. As someone who has spent hours on calls answering questions like “how do I get more followers on X?” I’m telling you this is a good read.

👏 Last but not least, remember when I wrote some, uh, critical things about the White House’s war with Iran hype video? Apparently it got insane engagement on TikTok, helping to make last week the White House’s strongest week on TikTok since early January (according to Magnitude Media. Subscribe to their newsletter if you don’t already!) So, I don’t know. Does it mean I was wrong? Eh. Maybe. I am not too proud to admit that I CAN be wrong sometimes! Let’s just say I appreciate good engagement even if the content is not to my taste or liking, and leave it at that (for now).

Oklahoma Lt. Governor Matt Pinell made it clear early in the week he would NOT be running for any elected office this year.
Clay Fuller has advanced to the run-off in Georgia’s 14 congressional district race.
Morgan Murphy dropped out of the Alabama Senate race and endorsed Rep. Barry Moore.
Karianne Lisonbee launched her campaign in Utah’s 2nd congressional district!

Did the U.S. Oil and Gas Association become anyone else’s favorite X account this week? Or is it just me.
Someone in Georgia (Colton Moore, cough cough) sent out some insane texts leading up to this week’s special election, accusing Clay Fuller of being a “crossdressing transexual”. My first question is WTF? My second question is, did no one at the P2P vendor responsible for sending this text stop for a second and ask whether they should be sending this kind of garbage? Come on, people.
Last but certainly not least, Jordan Lieberman at Powers Interactive is letting Doomsroll readers get a quick preview of his next post about what the data says about the wide world of politics! Please be sure to subscribe to his Substack here so you can read the rest of it later this week! Here’s that sneak peak:
You can’t understand our ecosystem without understanding the labor market. This is the key point that tech vendors of all sizes have misunderstood for the last two decades. The talent flow from politics to tech is healthy. The reverse is basically nonexistent. Nobody is quitting Google to run Norm Van Houten for Assembly.
Who hired whom, who married who, and who disappeared into “consulting” all matter. Network theory is the discipline that studies how those connections form and how money, information, and blame flow through them. It was developed to model power grids and disease outbreaks, which is a perfect analogy for all of you.
The key insight will offend you. Your position in the network matters more than how good you are. Your deck helps. Your case studies don’t. You still have to close the deal, but your eligibility to win it is determined by where you sit in the network.