Hello Merge Tag: Where Social Media and Politics Intersect

Most campaigns are still organizing around persuasion and turnout. But by the time persuasion starts, it's often already too late. In this episode, we dig into what I'm calling the Bedrock Approach — the idea that winning campaigns aren't built in the final weeks before Election Day, they're built over time through consistent, authentic content that creates familiarity long before voters are ever asked to decide. We get into why traditional persuasion is less powerful than most campaigns assume, what brand marketers have understood about this for decades, and why your real competition isn't your opponent — it's everything else competing for attention in the feed. Plus a few stories from actual races where this approach turned underdog candidates into household names. If you're working on a campaign, an advocacy org, or just trying to build genuine support for something you believe in, this one's for you. This episode was adapted from a blog post which you can find on my site at joshklemons.com/bedrock. Along with a full transcript, you can also find lots of fun graphics accompanying the post. I mentioned I had built some new tools. ShareSparrow helps you easily turn tweets, Bluesky posts and articles into Instagram-friendly graphics. Try it out at SharrowSparrow.com. FUline.org helps you write friendly emails to the allies in your life to stop using Uline products. Because friends don't let friends shop Uline. I also mentioned I have a new album out. It's called Live Amongst The Flames. You can listen and download it (for free) at joshklemons.com/music or find it wherever you listen to music. Big thanks to our sponsor Civic Shout. Learn more about the great work they’re doing to help Democratic campaigns and progressive nonprofits build their lists ethically at civicshout.com/partners.

“What I would really like to see is more Democrats using their resources to help people right now to fill in the material gaps that Trump has created. I think it's the right thing to do and I also think it is the most persuasive thing to do if you want to flip either chamber in 2026 and make a serious cultural impact." Kat Abughazaleh is running for Congress in Illinois’ 9th District. I personally think she’s running one of the most innovative campaigns of the cycle, both from a digital and from a field perspective. Listeners might remember Kat joined us back in April to talk about what it means to run a Bluesky-first campaign. She joined us again to talk about how her campaign is navigating the internet, fascism and so much more. She talked about the social platform helping her campaign raise the most money (Bluesky!), how her campaign is serving as a mutual aid hub for her community, what it means to fight back against the Trump regime in these dark times and so much more. Find links to her site, an episode transcript and more at HelloMergeTag.com.

“I've always believed in the power of storytelling and storytelling as a means for kind of creating understanding across difference." Garima Verma is a strategist and storyteller who bridges the worlds of culture, politics, media and social change. With over 10 years of experience spanning entertainment, political campaigns, and impact organizations, she specializes in transforming visionary ideas into actionable strategies, impactful programming and compelling narratives on-and-offline. She’s worked across entertainment and politics—leading digital campaigns for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, black-ish, and The Oscars, as well as for Stacey Abrams’ 2022 gubernatorial run, Dr. Jill Biden’s FLOTUS office, and the Biden-Harris 2020 campaign. Today, she partners with mission-driven leaders and organizations—from the DCCC to GoFundMe—to help them be more strategic online and maximize their impact in the digital age. Her and I connected to talk about the importance of differentiating between digital strategy and digital tactics, setting appropriate KPIs, what DC can learn from Hollywood, how Zohran's campaign helped digital strategists everywhere and so much more. Find links, transcript and more at HelloMergeTag.com.

“You don't want to be caught in that high volume moment and not have a way to capture people, not have a way or a plan to funnel people from Instagram onto your owned list.” You might not recognize today’s guest by name, but you’ve seen her work in action. Gabbi Zutrau is a freelance digital consultant in the progressive space, with clients ranging from MoveOn to Stop AAPI Hate. She’s also the creator of Edna the Runt, an adorable pup who anchors her own lively social community with a ton of followers and massive engagement. As an independent digital consultant, Gabbi built the Zohran Mamdani campaign’s chatbot automation infrastructure during his recent New York City mayoral primary campaign. By deploying Manychat automations, she played a pivotal role in turning social engagement into real-world impact—helping Mamdani defeat Andrew Cuomo and his billionaire backers.It was low-cost, high-scale organizing in action. Throughout our conversation, we cover: Building ladders of engagement that nurture supporters step-by-step from interest to actionDifferences in how automation can be deployed for campaigns versus advocacy groupsUsing automation to support fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and event sign‑upsLeveraging automation to lean into — rather than try to fight — the endless scroll and capture attentionThe role of engagement bait—and how ManyChat flows can avoid feeling spammy while maintaining their effectivenessAnd more! 📊 Some key metrics from the campaign: Over 77,000 automated messages sent across comment, DM and Story flows20,000+ clicks generated directly from Instagram DMs3,000+ emails collected via in-app conversation flowsA 76% click-through rate on trigger-word comment flowsAll achieved for roughly $318 total—about $0.03 per action In a world where “link in bio” gets ignored and the platforms are designed to keep people scrolling, this campaign shows what’s possible when you meet supporters where they are—and have a plan to keep them engaged, both online and off.. Tune in to hear how campaigns can—and should—embrace automation to turn online momentum into real-world organizing power. Find links, YouTube video and more at HelloMergeTag.com.

"Every newsroom, whether they acknowledge it or not, is values-driven. The choice to cover something or not cover something, the choice to use a word in a headline or not, is a statement on your values and your mission. We are just more transparent about it." RC Di Mezzo is a Democratic digital strategist with a decade of experience building online brands that connect directly with voters. As Vice President of Brand & Social at Courier, he led the 2023 launch of @Couriernewsroom—a social-first, values-driven progressive newsroom that became the fastest-growing news brand in the US, reaching over 100 million weekly views and generating more than 3 billion social views throughout the 2024 cycle. Courier’s rapid growth—from 1.8 to over 5 million subscribers in a year—has positioned it as a benchmark for both legacy and emerging digital news outlets. This episode is especially timely: a recent Reuters/Oxford report reveals that 54% of Americans now get their news from social media, surpassing TV’s 50% for the first time. While the right has spent years building creator-driven narrative ecosystems, the left has lagged—Courier Newsroom has emerged as our leading response, creating shareable, social-first content built for group chats and feeds. 🎧 What we covered: How Courier built a digital-first content machine for today’s social audienceWhy editorial and digital teams must work in lockstep—no silosWhy context outperforms clickbait Creating content in the app without fancy 3rd-party editing toolsBalancing national messaging with state-level storytellingLessons from successful campaigns—from Gavin Newsom to Kamala HarrisWhy campaigns should invest in digital earlyWhich social platform is Courier’s fastest-growing (hint: it's not TikTok!) Plus: RC’s tips for campaigns and creators building momentum from day one. If you want to unlock the digital tactics that drove billions of views, this is your behind-the-scenes guide. 🎙️ Find links, full video of our conversation and more at HelloMergeTag.com.

"Democrats can absolutely win, even in the face of this flood of money from the right and every horrific tactic that the right wants to use." Y’all know Ben Wikler. He’s currently the head of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin — a role he’s held since 2019. Here’s a quick relevant fact for you: I live in Wisconsin and do a lot of work in Wisconsin politics. Back in 2018, I was hired by WisDems to help train their comms team on digital — because at the time, they literally didn’t have a single digital staffer. Ben came in shortly after and… let’s just say things changed real quick. Before leading WisDems, Ben served as the Washington, DC Director and Senior Advisor for MoveOn. One of my favorite parts of his very long and impressive bio: as a student, he was recruited by Al Franken to help write Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them — a book that absolutely needs a second edition. Ben’s done a lot of cool things to push the Democratic Party forward in innovative and important ways. But now, his tenure as chair is coming to an end — and I invited him on the pod to reflect on what he’s learned and what others can take away from the powerhouse digital program he helped build here in Wisconsin. Throughout our conversation, we spoke about: How Ben’s feeling as he steps away — a mix of gratitude, fury, and hopeHow WisDems went from a minimal digital program to a national modelWhat lessons he brought from MoveOn and Avaaz to shape that transformationThe importance of building trust through your digital programThe power of visual communication — if you can't reach voters who watching TV in a bar with the sound off, you have a problemWhat he’d do differently if he were starting from scratch todayWho his biggest adversary was throughout his tenure leading the Democratic Party of WisconsinWho he’s looking to for inspiration nowWhere he’s spending time onlineThe diminishing, but still relevant, role Twitter plays for progressive orgsWhat he’d do now if he were running the DNCWhere he’s excited to see WisDems go from here You can find this full episode on YouTube, at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts.

“What I’ve been most frustrated with politics is how impersonal it is and so we’re trying to make it accessible and personal again.” Kat Abughazaleh is running for Congress, challenging long-time incumbent Jan Schakowsky in Illinois’ 9th District. Needless to say, Kat doesn’t look like, sound or act like your typical candidate. Her announcement video led with the simple question: What if we didn’t suck? She’s called on Democrats to “drop the excuses and grow a fucking spine,” and has made it clear she’s not interested in playing it safe while Donald Trump and Republicans steamroll the country. In her words: “while current Democratic leadership might be fine cowering to Trump, I’m not.” One of my favorite parts of her digital program so far: her website lists anti-endorsements, which include personal attacks leveled against her from Elon Musk, Libs of TikTok and Tucker Carlson. Epic. She’s also doing something I’ve never seen before from any political campaign: she’s prioritizing Bluesky—yes, Bluesky—as her primary platform. She’s not just hedging her bets on Twitter. She said during her launch, “I’m prioritizing Bluesky this election not only because it’s more ethical—but because it just makes sense.” Which is fascinating to me. Throughout our conversation, we spoke about: Why she’s prioritizing Bluesky over the cesspool that is TwitterFeatures on Bluesky she’s really excited aboutWhat she wishes Democrats were doing with their social programsWhy we need to give progressive content creators more room to be themselvesHow Fox News built its power on the bedrock of fearWhy we need to focus on the “puncture” to help break folks out of the Fox News/rightwing media bubbleHow America should be fighting back against Elon MuskAnd a whole lot more! ”Republicans control the narrative because democrats often let them. They’re always reacting, and you can’t always be reacting. Otherwise, you’re letting them set the terms — you’re letting Republicans say this is what reality is.” Find links and more episodes at HelloMergeTag.com.

“Unless you genuinely believe that elections should be up for sale to the highest bidder… I want you to realize that Elon Musk will be the highest bidder in any election that he wants to participate in.” Evan Sutton is the founder of Firekit Campaigns, where he works with unions, Democrats and nonprofits to build powerful stories in today's fractured media landscape. Before founding Firekit Campaigns, he worked as senior leadership at the American Federation of Teachers and the New Organizing Institute. Evan started his career in politics and advocacy in 2007 as a field organizer on Barack Obama's campaign. He recently wrote a piece for Melissa Ryan’s Control Alt-Right Delete called Make Tesla Toxic. That piece will be linked in the show notes, along with his follow up from a few days later called “Not All Tesla Owners.” Throughout our conversation, we discuss: Why Tesla is such a strong targetHow targeting Tesla can be an effective tactic in the fight against the companyHow actions against Tesla not only send a message but can also limit Elon Musk’s ability to influence future electionsLessons from the anti-smoking campaign that can be applied in taking on TeslaWhy simply putting up anti-Elon stickers isn’t enough—and why people should consider divesting completely from TeslaElon’s role in the upcoming Wisconsin State Supreme Court raceA visualization of just how wealthy Elon really isWhere digital organizing is taking place these daysThe importance of centering stories that truly impact people’s livesWho is excelling at digital organizing right nowThe response to Al Green and what Democrats should have done during the State of the UnionWhy now is the time for "Blood and Teeth Mode”And much more! “Don’t get stuck in the sunk cost fallacy. If you think you’re underwater in your Tesla today… think about what your Tesla’s gonna be worth [in 6 months] and how hard it’s gonna be to offload… And if you own Tesla stock, get out while it’s still worth something.” Listen to the full episode at HelloMergeTag.com or wherever you stream podcasts.