The Business of Politics Show Startup Caucus

Our guest is Jason Thielman, Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, where he is tasked with leading the GOP’s efforts to elect more senators in 2024. Jason served as Chief of Staff to Senator Steve Daines prior to his election as NRSC Chairman for the cycle. Jason has a background in both business and politics. 
In our conversation today, Jason shares with us the strategy decisions driving the NRSC in 2024, what he thinks about the state of campaigning, and a behind the scenes look at recruiting someone to run for U.S. Senate.


How The NRSC Helps Senate Candidates – Kevin McLaughlin (Common Sense Leadership Fund)Chapters

00:00 Introduction
00:58 The Lay of the Land for Senate Campaigns in 2024
04:07 The Importance of Early Phase and Candidate Recruitment
05:26 The Challenges of Online Fundraising
07:06 Factors Contributing to the Downturn in Online Fundraising
09:54 Challenges and Priorities as Executive Director of the NRSC
12:33 Pros and Cons of Candidate Recruitment
16:04 Convincing Candidates to Run for Senate
22:45 Balancing Work and Personal Life
25:18 Delegating and Focusing on Strategic Efforts
26:26 Conclusion

Today, we’re talking with Jon Seaton, Managing Partner of Camelback Strategy Group, a full-service political consulting and public affairs firm. Jon was Associate Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush and served as Regional Campaign Manager for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign. Jon and I dig into the changing nature of the campaign ground game, how data and technology have transformed door knocking, and the rise of paid canvassing.

Takeaways
Technology has revolutionized the campaign ground game, allowing for more effective measurement and targeting of door knocking operations.Building a modern, effective ground game involves identifying persuadable voters, creating scripts that resonate with them, and maintaining ongoing contact to reinforce messaging.Canvassing remains a highly effective and personal way to communicate with voters, providing an opportunity for face-to-face conversations and influencing voter decisions.Paid canvassing has become increasingly popular as it allows campaigns to recruit well-trained canvassers and ensure consistent standards and productivity.The risks of paid canvassing include potential negative interactions captured on doorbell cameras and the need for careful training and management to maintain a positive campaign image.The future of campaign ground games involves further advancements in targeting, personalized messaging, and coordination across multiple communication channels.

David Broockman is an associate professor of political science at UC Berkeley. He is the co-author of a study published in the American Political Science Review last month titled “How Experiments Help Campaigns Persuade Voters: Evidence from a Large Archive of Campaigns’ Own Experiments.”  In our conversation, we discuss the research and learn what campaigners should do in light of the findings. 

Our guest today is Kurt Luidhardt, co-founder of the Prosper Group, one of the leading digital strategy firms for Republicans. Kurt and his team have worked for candidates across the country, including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and many more. 

In today's episode, we're talking about the future of digital strategy, online fundraising, and what recent shifts in tactics mean for a new path forward for creating content to engage supporters.

Our guest is Patrick Wohl, author of the new book Down Ballot: How A Local Campaign Became a national referendum on abortion. Patrick is a Washington, DC-based public affairs professional and also has extensive experience on the campaign trail up and down the ballot. 

In our conversation, we discuss the small race that became a big deal, the long-term impact of the outcome, and we even dig into the book publishing industry.

Today we’re sharing the audio from a recent webinar hosted by the Center for Campaign Innovation discussing the 2023 Virginia Post Election Survey they did with the State Government Leadership Foundation. The full survey, including the slides referenced in the discussion are available at the link in our show notes.

The webinar was moderated by Eric Wilson and participants were David Kanevsky from 3D Strategic Research and Peter Barnes from the State Government Leadership Foundation, co-sponsor of the survey.

Our discussion focuses on three main highlights from the poll: the perception of the abortion debate in voters’ minds, the effect of renewed Republican early voting efforts, and the status of social media and digital streaming platforms.

Visit CampaignInnovation.org for the slides referenced.