Are You Ready for the AI Election?
Also inside: Gov. Gavin Newsom leans on memes, Women’s March drops ads about their “circus” protests, and more
Hi all! Lucy here again, back to introduce you to my friend Scott Schuler, content strategist extraordinaire, who will be guest-authoring FWIW for the next few weeks. I’ll let him take it away – you guys are in for a treat!
Hi all, I’m Scott. 👋 You don’t know me, and I…well… I don’t know you either. But we BOTH know FWIW, so here we are.
I’m guest-writing FWIW this week in my personal capacity. And you may be asking – who tf is this?? Well, after a few years working in film & television, my career in progressive politics started at ACRONYM. Fun fact – that’s also where FWIW started 5 years ago! I’ve since spent many years as a video creator and content strategist for progressive organizations. You may know me from this viral video. And if you don’t, my feelings are only a little bit hurt.
This week, we’ll be exploring how whichever side deploys AI tools best in 2028… will probably be the winner. And don’t worry, Lucy + the COURIER team still proofread these newsletters, so I’ll only be as unhinged as they let me.
More below, but first…
Digital ad spending, by the numbers:
FWIW, U.S. political advertisers spent about $11.3 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:
Women’s March dropped over $196,000 on ads promoting and inviting people to their “Kick Out The Clown Circus” that they’ve planned to counterprotest Trump’s birthday military parade on June 14th. The ads are running on Facebook + Instagram and are running nationwide, with seemingly a particular focus on the big blue states of California and New York (California, of course, is already facing unwanted military intervention in their protests going into this weekend).
Meanwhile, political advertisers spent just over $3.2 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:
After allegedly being somewhat on the outs with Trump, the Koch Network-backed Americans for Prosperity still spent a jaw-dropping $527,000 last week alone on Google + YouTube ads supporting Trump’s tax cuts and calling on Congress to extend them (which is part of the whole Big Beautiful Bill situation). The ads are running in several states but seem to have a particular focus on North Carolina and Louisiana.
On X (formerly Twitter), political advertisers in the U.S. have spent around $4 million on ads in 2025. According to X’s political ad disclosure, here are the top spenders year to date:
SEIU’s Families Over Billionaires, AKA @TaxWarRoom, seems to be doing a big X/Twitter ad push around their efforts to call out Republican members of Congress for supporting Trump’s tax bill.
…and lastly, on Snapchat, political advertisers in the U.S. have spent around $897,700 on ads in 2025. Here are the top spenders year to date:
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Are You Ready for the AI Election?
It’s no secret that folks on the left (and pretty much everywhere else) are racing to work with content creators and podcasters. It’s a gold rush! And given my work as a creator, I love it. We need stronger independent progressive voices connecting with voters to shape our politics. Without their far-reaching voices shaping our culture, the Left will continue to lose nationally.
But come 2028, our army of “Joe Rogan(s) of the Left” will not be enough. Follow where the proverbial puck is going. Many in our space believe that artificial intelligence is the next frontier. And if 2024 was “the podcaster election”, I’ll bet ya that 2028 will be the AI election.
I’m not just inhaling ChatGPT fumes (though I am doing that) about AI becoming a dominant force in campaigns. There’s historical precedent! President Franklin D. Roosevelt revolutionized political communication with his radio “Fireside Chats”. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan excelled on television when it was a new medium. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump pioneered using the Internet to organize supporters and drive the news cycle.
AI’s ability to automate tasks and boost output will make it just as revolutionary as the introduction of the radio, television, and the Internet. But I know many have concerns about AI. Those concerns are valid! These tools need to be regulated, and Congressional Republicans sure aren’t doing it. If we want regulation, we must win elections. We’re in a knife fight for our democracy, so let’s not fight with one hand tied behind our backs.
Now, you may be wondering – which AI uses will be most important in 2028? I don’t know any oracles (though Claude sometimes feels like one). So, let’s speculate:
AI Chatbots: Language learning models are incredible tools to inform and persuade voters. Organizations on the Right and Left are already investing in these tools. And people will inevitably build chatbots that convincingly simulate speaking directly to political leaders. One question is whether campaigns will embrace these or whether these bots will be created outside of campaigns’ control.
AI Audience Targeting: AI-driven marketing firms like Resonate deployed this tactic in 2024 to discover niche voting audiences like the “Cyber Crusaders”. This better understanding of the electorate could offer groundbreaking new microtargetting opportunities to campaigns. Plus, it could drive down the cost of audience segmentation, which offers more opportunities to smaller campaigns.
AI Personalized Messaging: Undoubtedly, organizations are exploring leveraging massive data sets to tailor bespoke messaging towards unique audience segments. And as this kitsch example of an AI-customized birthday video featuring Martin Short shows, AI offers the possibility of tailoring messages and imagery by the individual. Granted, tailored messaging isn’t new, but AI analysis and content generation offer a previously unimaginable level of speed and specificity.
AI Video: The recent groundbreaking release of Google’s Veo 3 AI video generator (with accompanying sound) will certainly play a role in upcoming elections. And lord knows, Trump has already used AI videos in embarrassing and horrifying ways. The Trump resistance has caught on as well. Even this New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate made an ad using AI.
Other potential uses include AI-driven robocalls, AI-led content testing, AI audio deepfakes, and AI-supported text and email programs. Only time will tell which tactics will have the biggest impact on future elections.
In my opinion, today’s funders should strongly consider investing in AI-first programs, and today’s practitioners should strongly consider adopting AI-driven tools. AI can’t do the thinking for us, but it can speed up our work and make our lives easier. We may be behind on “finding our Joe Rogan,” but that doesn’t mean we need to be behind everywhere.
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More from around the internet:
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Gavin Newsom is leaning into memes and trending sounds as he pushes back against the Trump administration’s aggressive shows of force against the LA protests… and it appears to be gaining him a *ton* of followers.
And speaking of the LA protests, misinformation about them is spreading like wildfire online (mostly originating from conservative accounts) – and it looks like this is one of the first major instances where we’re seeing the use of AI cause chaos about what’s real and what’s not.
After being effectively ousted from the DNC for challenging gerontocracy within the party, David Hogg + his Leaders We Deserve PAC are out with a fundraising email doubling down on their position.
That’s it for FWIW this week. This email was sent to 24,372 readers. If you enjoy reading this newsletter each week, would you mind sharing it on X/Twitter, Threads, or Bluesky? Have a tip, idea, or feedback? Reply directly to this email.
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