Introducing Blue Digital Exchange
With historic wins in Virginia and Alabama, Democrats around the country should be buoyed with our prospects going into the 2018 elections. But why do we think that we can win more seats by running the same campaigns that we ran in 2014, 2016? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again then expecting a different result. If we want to ensure a Blue Wave in 2018, then Democrats need to fundamentally change the way that we engage voters.
The 2016 elections, plus the last twenty years, have shown that the Republicans have caught up and in some cases have surpassed Democrats in terms of digital and technology expertise. If you believe all of the news reports, Facebook ads tipped the election and even the Russians have passed Democrats!
Whether we take a cue from the corporate marketing space or even take lessons from the Republicans, it’s critical that Democratic campaigns and organizations approach their communications and voter engagement programs with an authentic, holistic media approach that focuses on modernizing every aspect of campaigns.
We need real change and progressive digital operatives are anxious to get started. That’s why we are announcing the creation of a new group, Blue Digital Exchange or BDX. BDX is a network of Progressive digital professionals who work in the political, non-profit and advocacy spaces. The goal of BDX is to advocate for an increased role for digital communications and marketing in Progressive campaigns and organizations. There is a lot of misinformation about the impact of digital programs as well as the use of bad practices, which further dilutes that impact. By working together and pooling our collective experience and information, we can change the status quo.
So what are actionable items that we are fighting? Here are just several:
Erase the Digital Ceiling: There is not one Executive Director or deputy ED position in any Democratic party committee or SuperPAC that is occupied by someone with a digital background. Republicans are light years ahead of Democrats on this front. The former Digital Director for Romney for President was named the Deputy ED for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2014!
Digital operatives in the Democratic Party are faced with the unsettling reality that the highest position they can achieve is Digital Director and their input is not taken seriously as other fields. If we want to run innovative and impactful campaigns, then we must retain and grow digital talent in the party. To do that, we must give digital operatives a path to leadership in the party. That means including your top digital staffer in senior leadership as well as promoting staffers with digital experience to the highest levels of leadership.
Stop Treating Digital like an ATM: Democratic campaigns and organizations are singularly focused on using digital platforms for fundraising purposes while GOP groups, such as Congressional Leadership Fund, the NRSC/NRCC, and the American Action Network, are investing into digital communications as a more holistic approach.
Our research of publicly available FEC data has shown that in 2016, GOP outside groups spent a greater percentage of their media budgets on persuasion digital ads than Democratic groups. In the case of competitive House races, GOP groups spent 28% of their media budgets on digital, while Democratic groups spent 4%. GOP groups saw the data on changing media consumption numbers and they realized that they had to fundamentally change the way they communicate to voters. Democrats are the only group left that hasn’t gotten the message. Digital operatives have more to offer than just online fundraising; Democratic campaigns and organizations should be embracing digital communications in all aspects of their campaign from press outreach to fields programs to persuasion.. That approach should also be reflected in where campaigns and organizations spend their resources.
Change the Campaign Structure: For too long, campaigns have been structured with Field, Communications, Fundraising and Digital with digital as a bit of a fourth wheel. The truth is Field, Communications and Fundraising should all have major digital components and be led by senior staffers with deep knowledge of digital. We need to reevaluate how campaigns are organized – including re-examining if the traditional field, communications and fundraising departments still make sense - to better match the modern ways that voters, donors and supporters want to engage.
This is just a couple of the principles that we will be fighting for as we get organized. If you are a digital staffer or consultant in Progressive politics and want to get involved with BDX, sign up on our site and please contact us at info@bluedigitalexchange.com