Win or lose this cycle, we need to discuss the Republican Party’s roles in elections going forward. Donors are moving towards a Super PAC model, while local GOP committees are becoming organizations that exist in name only. The ground game, which was once handled by the party — state and/or federal — has been taken up by a fractured group of organizations that are disconnected and not working together.
There are many people making money, but there isn’t a cohesive strategy. If we want to win consistently, we need to do better. More specifically, we need to discuss the role of both the national and local Republican Parties as a force in elections going forward.
Our paid media is often an overlapping mess of dollars thrown up on TV competing for eyeballs instead of going after targeted groups with a connected-but-diversified messaging strategy. Simply put, there needs to be more communication to run a cohesive strategy.
Let me be clear: I’m not saying that Super PACs are bad. In fact, my company is part of the leadership of several. But if we want to win consistently, we need to do a better job of getting on the same page and working collaboratively.
The bar is rising in the competition for voters’ attention. There are so many ways voters consume media and, at the same time, they’ve grown to distrust anything politicians say and disregard campaigns that support them. This distrust makes our job harder, and without one organization being the hub for most of the spending, we need to form better-working alliances with each other and communicate on strategy, especially when our goals align.
Thankfully, the issues are on our side this election, but we have a long-term problem that needs a strategic overhaul. There are many smart people in politics on our side — if we get in the room to work on this, collectively, we can help shape a better path forward.
That should be our priority after November, although I worry that we’ll fall into one of two traps: Either President Trump wins and we do well enough in our congressional races to disregard the issues I’ve raised above. Or if we lose, there’ll be no appetite for a real dissection of our side’s problems and instead we’ll quickly move on to challenging the incoming Harris-Walz administration..
We need to open door number three. Whatever happens in November, I believe it’s time for a strategic overhaul.
Michael Biundo is a partner at Ascent Strategic, a grassroots-first campaign consulting firm.
A version of this piece was previously published in “The Difference Makers” newsletter.
