Re-evaluating Field Operations with Scott Goodstein Catalyst Campaigns
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Release Date: 01/15/2025
How the Working Class Story Can Lead to Social Change with Gwenn Fulton Addition Project
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Gwenn Fulton from the Addition Project joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to explore how storytelling is a powerful way to translate personal experiences into public dialogue, building shared understanding and action around common challenges. Stories of the working class are particularly needed so that their concerns and aspirations are told in their own voices. Deepak and Gwenn talk about: Effective storytelling balances facts with emotional expression to allow listeners to see themselves as part of the story How storytelling can drive grassroots organizing and...
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Connecting Nonprofit Organizations with Lawyers for Pro Bono Legal Services with Anna Chu We the Action
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Anna Chu, Executive Director of We the Action, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the critical role lawyers play in defending the rule of law and supporting nonprofits during these challenging times. The We the Action platform connects lawyers with organizations addressing the challenges both sides face in finding specific expertise and meaningful opportunities. Deepak and Anna talk about Making it easier for lawyers to find nonprofits they can help Increasing need for legal support for nonprofits Working with unions to set up free legal counsel for Federal...
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Using Stories and Music to Explore the American Dream and Drive Activism with Jennifer Appel
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Jennifer Appel, filmmaker, teacher, and activist, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the American Dream and the need to provide a more complete and accurate portrayal of the American experience. Jennifer uses storytelling, music, and visuals to give voice to diverse perspectives, including those of Indigenous people and veterans, to rally the country and heal the divisions in American society. She reminds us of the Hopi Indian quote, "The one who tells the story rules the world." Deepak and Jennifer talk about What drives Jennifer to use music and film to inspire change...
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The Power of Protests with Shasti Conrad Washington State Democratic Party
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Shasti Conrad is the Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party and Associate Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Her involvement in political organizing and activism taught her that campaigns must focus on economic messages to build coalitions that cut across partisan lines. This year, before the 2026 mid-terms, there is an opportunity to engage diverse constituents in person and online to test new messaging and strategies for reaching consensus and winning races. We talk about: Who is participating in the nationwide protests against the Trump administration Reaching out to...
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Building and Maintaining Relationships with Voters with Zach Adams VDX.tv
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Zach Adams, Senior Specialist in Client Partnerships for Politics and Public Affairs at VDX.tv, discusses the evolving landscape of political campaigns and the importance of ongoing engagement with voters beyond election day. Candidates and campaigns often fail to maintain relationships with voters, except for requests for contributions. Data analytics is one path to effectively target messages to engage and motivate the base and attract new supporters. We talk about: Moving beyond the transactional nature of voter engagement Why political ads need to be more emotionally evocative and...
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How AI and Data are Reshaping Political Campaigns with Michael Cohen the Cohen Research Group
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Michael D. Cohen is the CEO of the Cohen Research Group, a political public affairs and corporate research firm, and the author of Modern Political Campaigns: How Professionalism, Technology, and Speed Have Revolutionized Elections. He has written a new chapter for this well-received book that focuses on the power of AI and opportunities to apply it in political campaigns. Michael emphasizes the need to balance the use of AI with maintaining the authenticity and voice of the candidate. We talk about: AI tools being used by campaigns to generate content ideas for fundraising emails and...
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How a Healthcare Advocate is Changing Access to Clinical Trials Robert Maxwell ClinConnect
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Robert Maxwell, Founder of ClinConnect, focuses on improving access to information about clinical trials and simplifying the path patients, doctors, and caregivers need to go through to find potentially life-saving trials. This clinical trial data is drawn directly from the database. The ClinConnect solution is updated more accurately and provides a user-friendly interface to explore possible trials, aid in applying to participate in a trial, and support participation. The community of people concerned about science-based healthcare and the need for access to clinical trials is...
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AI-Powered Programmatic Advertising Platform Optimizes Voter Targeting with Mark Positano StackAdapt
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Mark Positano is the Head of Political at StackAdapt, a programmatic digital advertising buying platform. With a focus on advertising outside the "walled gardens" like Facebook and Google, StackAdapt uses AI and data analytics to optimize ad buying and targeting for political campaigns across a wide range of media properties and streaming platforms. We talked about: Getting beyond micro-targeting using a more nuanced approach to targeting voters Growth of political digital ad budgets outpacing growth of traditional ad budgets Digital ad buying strategies How response to digital ads can inform...
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Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response with Desiree Matel-Anderson Field Innovation Team
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Desiree Matel-Anderson, Founder and Chief Wrangler of the Field Innovation Team joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss emergency preparation in an age of natural and man-made disasters, climate uncertainty, and overwhelmed government resources. The key is to be prepared with a plan to respond with a critical thinking mindset to avoid emotional reactions and panic. Deepak and Desiree talk about Need for innovative, flexible problem-solving in emergency situations Importance of local community involvement and preparedness for emergencies Emergencies within...
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Protecting Data from Increasing Sophistication of Cyberattacks with Ben Katz ISPolitical
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Ben Katz, Chief Architect of ISPolitical, is concerned about the inadequate data and systems security measures political and advocacy organizations, political campaigns, and government organizations have in place. The first step is to audit current security practices and all the people who have access to the organization's databases, financial systems, and web administration. We talk about: Data access vulnerabilities File access levels and permissions Cloud services and backup strategies Verifying vendor security credentials How to improve security practices of smaller organizations...
info_outlineScott Goodstein is the Founder and CEO of Catalyst Campaigns and a digital pioneer. The results from the 2024 election indicate that the ground game needs a fresh review of how volunteers can be better deployed and how to find trusted messengers for a political campaign. The traditional ward and precinct system built relationships with voters over time. What's the new face of field operations?
We talk about:
- The history of door-knocking in political campaigns
- Measuring the success of field operations
- Political text abuses
- Online fundraising traps
- How the Trump campaign and supporting SuperPACs reached voters
#CatalystCampaigns #GroundGame #FieldOperations #Fundraising #PoliticalTexts #Voters #VoterOutreach
We've lost control of political text messaging
