Politics & Government
Digital streaming, podcasts have changed campaigns
However, canvassing appears to still be the most valuable communication
By Scott Benjamin
BROOKFIELD – In October 2000 as Jim Maloney and Mark Nielsen clashed for the second time for the seat in Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District – known then as Connecticut’s swing district – Jason Linde, Maloney’s campaign manager, underscored the importance of the program logs from the statewide television stations.
There had been, for example, days that autumn when Maloney, a Democrat who would win a third term, had commercials on both broadcast and cable outlets and Nielsen had none.
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“You could drop 48,000 pieces of literature simultaneously and not get the impact of a 30-second commercial on “60 Minutes,” Linde said in an interview after the campaign.
Today, Connecticut Republican State Party Chairman Ben Proto says he asks his party’s candidates why they’re putting advertising on the statewide broadcast television channels.
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“I often speak to a lot of high school, college and law students and always ask them the same questions: ‘How many of you watch Channel 8, Channel 3, Channel 30 or channel 61?’ Almost no one raises their hand,” remarked Proto in a recent phone interview with Patch.com.
Proto added, “I’d rather see you take $50,000 that you want to put on broadcast shows and spend $25,000 and do OTG [On-The-Go] or do direct digital marketing or text messaging or e-mail marketing and direct messaging on someone’s streaming service.”
Democratic campaign consultant Brett Broesder, who was the online advisor for Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (D-Middletown) during their 2018 campaigns, said regarding digital streaming advertising and podcasting: “2024 was the first time it was widely used and recognized by the public at large as a major influence in the election outcome.”
He commented that through On-The-Go programing candidates are “able to buy zip code and buy interest area and target your ads to folks and you are speaking to the voters you want versus throwing mud at the wall with major broadcast.”
Jamie Manning - the CEO of Swan Street Media, a digital agency for campaign advertising - wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal that, “The Trump campaign’s key strategists attribute their victory not to podcast appearances but to a finely tuned advertising strategy that used new techniques to target undecided voters with messages that the campaign knew would move the needle.”
Former Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Chairman Aaron Zimmer said with modern analytics that even in a state House race a candidate can easily swayable vote3s that he wants to target.
For example, he said if a candidate needs to send campaign advertising to people who work out at health clubs, they can find that data through Facebook.
Zimmer produced podcasts for his unsuccessful 2024 state House campaign and for the Democratic ticket in the 2023 when the party swept the municipal election.
It is “a way to connect with people the same way you do social media,” Zimmer commented in an interview with Patch.com.
In particular, he said the podcast that he produced from an interview with Frist Selectman Steve Dunn and Other Selectman Bob Belden was helpful, since “there was some good banter” and it gave Democrats an opportunity to learn more about Belden , who is an unaffiliated voter and who until 2023 had served as a Republican as chairman of the Board of Finance and the Board of Education.
“It is better than a static Facebook post, by a mile,” remarked Zimmer. “You’re listening to someone’s voice. They are talking to you.”
He said that the Democrats also benefited from a video commercial that was posted on social media that tried to define the experience level between their ticket and the Republican slate.
However, Zimmer said personal contact is still the most important communication.
“I happen to think that this digital revolution that has just pushed massive amounts of information into everybody’s faces all day, every day: That makes canvassing even more necessary.,” he said
During this bid for the state House seat last year, Zimmer canvassed 6,000 homes, mostly by motor scooter, with a 30 percent response rate among the voters in Brookfield and in parts of Newtown and Bethel.
“That’s not a good ratio on its face, but It is a better ratio than getting people to look at what we have on Facebook,” he said. “For the most part, people are talking about their opinions on Facebook. People who don’t speak up like that still have opinions.”
“You get a better idea of what people are thinking if you go and ask them,” Zimmer explained.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Hartford), has been canvassing since his first race for the state House in 1998, and has said that elected officials should be visiting voters regularly since otherwise they will get a “skewed perception” of their views on issues”
Broesder remarked, “There is no replacing a one-on-one conversation. Face-to-face is always the best.”
Zimmer said, “If we had more teams available, we probably would have come closer” in 2024.
Republican Marty Foncello, the former Brookfield First Selectman, annexed a second term with 52.6 percent of the vote to 47.4 percent for Zimmer in the district. It was the best performance by at Democrat in the district in decades.
The last time a Democrat won in the 107th state House district was in 1974 when attorney James Mannion of Bethel prevailed.
Zimmer said that there apparently were a number of voters last year who supported him and Republican President Donald Trump.
He commented, “I’m not sure that you can those kind of results with digital media. It has to be from canvassing neighborhoods.”
Resources:
Interview with Aaron Zimmer, Patch.com, on Sunday, January 26, 2025.
Phone interview with Aaron Zimmer, Patch.com, on Friday, January 31, 2025.
Phone interview with Brett Broesder, Patch.com, on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
Interview with Jason Linde on Monday, November 20, 2000.
Comments by Jason Linde at a news conference on Sunday, October 9, 2000.
Interview with Chris Murphy, The Litchfield County Times, August, 2007.
