Amy Klobuchar’s Smart Pre-Debate Grassroots Tactic

Hillary has a Twitter Posse

A noteworthy email from Amy Klobuchar’s campaign arrived late yesterday evening:

Colin — We’e busy getting ready for the debate tomorrow and we want your help.

We’re continuing to build our team to make sure everyone hears Amy’s message online during the debate. You’re one of Amy’s top supporters and we want your friends and family to hear all about her optimistic economic agenda for America.

Sign up below and we’ll send you highlights during the debate and ways you can help out online. We know this is going to be a big night and having your support for Amy will go a long way.

The signup link sends you to a basic signup page for “Amy’s Rapid Response Team”, which I promptly filled out. One slightly jarring aspect: once I’d completed the form, it sent me to a thank-you page with a donation ask but no mention of the Rapid Response Team. Perhaps Klobuchar’s staff didn’t have time to create a thank-you page tied to the original ask? I know they need to raise money, but best practice would be to at least thank someone for signing up for a “team” and let them know what they should next expect, even if it’s just in a line or two of text above the donation ask.

That quibble aside, this strikes me as a smart tactic and one I’m often amazed that more campaigns don’t copy. The idea has been around for years, and it shouldn’t take much staff time to prep a few emails highlighting important campaign tweets or Facebook posts and giving Rapid Response Team members one-click links to share them. As I wrote when Hillary Clinton unveiled a similar program in November 2015:

Arming your supporters with messaging they can spread on your behalf is a smart move, and I’m surprised this strategy isn’t more common. It’s a great way to turn supporters into ambassadors within their own social media circles, and it’s also an ask that doesn’t involve a supporter’s credit card. Timely, too, with the first Democratic debate tonight.

History repeats! With so many candidates desperate for notice and so many people likely to follow the debates via social media, marshaling an army of supporters to boost your signal seems like an obvious move. I’m curious to see what the campaign sends.

BTW, I’m not masochistic enough to sign up for every campaign’s email list, so please let me know if you see other candidates create a similar social-media share squad. Sharing, after all, is caring.

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Written by
Colin Delany
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