Campaign media strategy in 2024

There are maybe 8% undecided voters right now, and since they are the most uninvolved and apathetic voters out there, maybe 3% will eventually vote. And the only ones that matter are in the swing states.

So what do these undecideds never, ever pay attention to? Meet the Press, Fox News, MSNBC, and all the other political talk. And they will never in history watch a press conference, watch clips, or read up on one later. 

Who do they pay attention to? Howard Stern, The View, Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert, 60 Minutes, Oprah, and so on. And in many instances, a popular podcast will reach a lot more target voters than all of the political talk shows and press conferences combined. And massive, boisterous campaign rallies - where no one leaves early - generate lots of local (swing state) positive news coverage (and volunteers!).

So when they ask: wHy Won'T kAmAla dO iNteRViEws wiTH (fill in the blank)?

Because she's playing to win.

I think that she and the DNC are blowing it big time.

The ONLY issue where Trump and Hillbilly-hole have an edge is the economy. And that, in turn, is because people overweight inflation---realizing that prices have gone up, but not also realizing that so have wages, and jobs are abundant. So because a certain proportion of the electorate votes solely with their rice bowls, they will hold their noses and vote for Trump because they remember that inflation was low during his presidency.

Of course, that begs the question: Was inflation low BECAUSE Trump was President? Of course not! Will inflation be low if he's reelected? Quite the opposite, if he gets his tariffs and tax giveaways enacted. So the idea that Trump would somehow lower consumer prices is a total fallacy.

And I think that getting that message out to the "reluctant Trump voters" is a much better use of campaign cash than looking under every rock for those few professed "undecided" voters. Instead, we should go after the professed Trump voters who are willing to overlook his awful character, his lies, his selfishness, and his criminality because they want lower prices at Piggly Wiggly, and they think he's the solution.

Right Kevin, basing your campaign on defending against attacks from your opponent is a GREAT presidential election strategy. Just ask President Michael Dukakis, or President John Kerry!

I think what you are missing is that a lot of those types of folks are inundated with polical messages every day on Facebook. Nowadays rather than listen Colbert, 60 Minutes, Oprah and so on they listen to their life-long friends, family and acquaintances on FB. And face it those folks on FB are more inclined to beleive a conspiracy than anything factual.

Mark Zuckerberg has almost singlehandedly destroyed Democracy. Oh, and Democrats are horrible at social media because they think everything you post has to be truthful.  Nobody wants to read truthful things on FB. The want to read something that gets them emotionally worked up.

You misunderstand. The message shouldn't be defensive at all. It should refute the twin misconceptions that a) inflation pre-pandemic was low because the Noble Turd was in charge, and therefore b) all we have to do is reelect him and everything will cost a buck or less once more, even Teslas.

And I'm afraid that when one candidate is an incumbent, or the next thing to it, an essential part of the message will necessarily be "defending":his/her record. You know the drill. ME NO LIKE DIS! WHO PREZIDUNT? IT AM HIS FAWLT!

Can't get away from that 

Mark, you are describing the average voter. 

The Harris campaign is much more concerned with the tiny sliver of Americans that are undecided at this point who will decide the election.

Your line, "And face it those folks on FB are more inclined to believe a conspiracy than anything factual,"  describes our resident serial FB video poster to a tee. 

Have you ever heard of the podcast "Call Her Daddy?" Neither have I. But Kamala Harris appeared on it and will probably get a minimum of 10 million views and probably reach more undecideds than any of the conventional news outlets.

That's because Kamala Harris is playing to win.

We all have to remember that polls are taken of people who bother to take the time to answer polls. That makes the frustrated old men sitting in their basements fondling their guns overrepresented. Meanwhile, the Generation Social Media voters remain un-polled.

The analogy I like for this race is the fourth quarter of a close football game, when one team is tired and the other just runs the ball down its throat. Trump can't possibly pick up any more voters and in fact, is doing his best to drive them away. But Harris still can, and I think she is.

That's not how polls work. Then never release their raw data. They weight the polls so that they reflect a predicted model of the actual turnout.