Keith Edwards: What I Learned Building a Progressive YouTube Channel in 2025
Algorithms change. Audiences evolve. Authenticity still matters.
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I’m Keith Edwards. I’ve worked in politics for years—on campaigns, causes, and comms strategy. But this past year, I did something new: I became a full-time YouTuber.
It’s been a crash course in how digital influence actually works now. I’ve posted hundreds of videos and grown an audience from zero subscribers to a million in 15 months. Today, I reached half a billion views. Now, strangers will come up to me and say they watch my channel. That part was a surprise.
In the past year, I’ve learned more about audiences, about trust, and about what kinds of political content actually break through in a fractured, chaotic media ecosystem than I ever did working as a political operative. I made a video highlighting some of my takeaways from the past year, and wanted to write some of them down and share them with you all here.
More on that below, but first…
Digital ad spending, by the numbers:
FWIW, U.S. political advertisers spent just under $11.2 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:
Three Democratic senate candidates, Talarico, Ossoff, and Kelly, cracked the top 10 list, collectively spending over half a million dollars on Meta ads last week. The GOP side of the aisle was notably absent, perhaps focusing their efforts on a different platform (see below).
Humanitarian groups, which made up about half of this list, ran some serious end-of-year fundraising campaigns, outspending politicians by a mile. Doctors Without Borders dropped more money last week than any two senate candidates combined.
Meanwhile, political advertisers spent about $2.3 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:
ICYMI: Tom Steyer, who famously spent over $250 million during his 2020 presidential campaign only to come in third with 11% of the vote and no pledged delegates, is now running to succeed Gavin Newsom as governor of California. He spent less than $54K on Google and YouTube ads last week, but it’s safe to say, we can expect that number to get a lot higher in the coming days.
On X (formerly Twitter), political advertisers in the U.S. have spent just $6,700 on ads in 2026 so far. According to X’s political ad disclosure, here are the top spenders year to date… very much presented without comment, but if you’ve been on Twitter/X lately, this won’t come as a surprise:
Snapchat has not yet shared its political advertising data for 2026.
What if you could raise more in 2026?
Groups like Common Cause, Earthjustice, and Amnesty International are setting themselves up to crush it in 2026 with Civic Shout, and you can too.
What I Learned Building a Progressive YouTube Channel in 2025
The early growth strategy: Test → iterate → build
At the start of 2025, I committed to doing this full-time. With 220,000 subscribers and a background in production and branding, I gave the channel a name: The Keith Edwards Show. I added editors, graphics, and a studio.
At first, I didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. I looked at what high-performing progressive channels like MeidasTouch, David Pakman, and Adam Mockler were doing, then tested similar formats and iterated. Repetition and consistency built traction. By the end of the year, I hit 1.1 million subscribers, and had a real business.
In July 2024, I committed to posting one video a day, and that consistency paid off. My channel grew from 5,000 to 100,000 subscribers that month, helped by being in the right place at the right time amid Biden’s withdrawal from the race and the attempted assassination of Trump. My first viral video was about Trump’s attempted assassin, which racked up 80,000 views.
There’s a common misconception that lo-fi production equals authenticity, which an audience will reward with engagement. That’s not true. Early on, I filmed in my bedroom, and it admittedly looked ugly and unprofessional. When I pivoted to full-time and invested in a studio, viewership surged. It was a game changer. Presentation really matters—especially since my viewers are watching me on their TVs, where I’m competing with movies and TV shows.
From growth to voice
Once the numbers were there, I wanted the tone and presentation to match the kinds of conversations I actually want to have. I’m now trying to move away from clickbait thumbnails and outrage-driven headlines. The content is still sharp, but now it looks sharp, too.That shift has cost me some casual drive-by clicks. But that’s fine. What I’m building now is hopefully more durable: an audience that feels like a community, not a funnel.
Other large progressive channels are starting to shift their tone and packaging too. That’s good. Because while the right is insane, they know how to make their content look approachable. Ours often doesn’t. Nobody wants to share a video—no matter how good it is—when the thumbnail is Trump’s face and the title is dialed to 12.
I’m betting that nuance and honesty win long-term. And so far, the engagement trends suggest that bet is paying off.
Before:
After:
What works now (and what doesn’t)
Political YouTube is still evolving. But there are a few things I’ve learned the hard way:
You don’t need guests to be interesting.
I moved away from doing interviews because I didn’t want the channel to rely on access. Viewers come for my voice. Most interviews perform worse than solo videos. When I do bring on guests, I want them to be real conversations—not just another place for politicians to drop their talking points. The audience finds that boring. And they’re right. Who wants to watch two people on Zoom?Your audience is smarter than you think.
I read as many comments as I can. Sometimes I get 150,000 in a week. The most common sentiment is: “I don’t agree with everything you say, but I like how you say it.” That means a lot. It tells me they feel seen. I push back on Democrats when I think they’re wrong and I try to call things like I see them. That balance has built trust.Success doesn’t mean screaming.
There’s no shortage of performative outrage online, but I’ve found my audience isn’t looking to be yelled at. That doesn’t mean avoiding drama altogether, but there’s a difference between being sensational and being loud. Sometimes the best hooks come from gossip, internet weirdness, or the supporting cast around Trump and I try to keep the tone grounded, honest, and occasionally funny. The goal isn’t to downplay urgency, it’s to make people feel like they’re in on the conversation—not sitting through a lecture.
What’s next
If 2025 was about growth and refining the channel’s brand, 2026 will be about doubling down on that. I want to continue to professionalize my channel: investing in my voice, packaging, and presentation to have a lasting impact.
My relationship with my audience is rooted in deep respect and I want to make content that reflects that. Audiences aren’t stupid. Even if they can’t tell you why they like something, they know it when they see it. This past year has proven that.
I’ve already laid the groundwork, now I’m ready to see where it grows.
What if you could raise more in 2026?
Groups like Common Cause, Earthjustice, and Amnesty International are setting themselves up to crush it in 2026 with Civic Shout, and you can too.
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 | A guest post by
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As (if feel) one of Keith's most ardent and avid subscribers, channel members, and financial sustainers, I wanted to touch on some things about Keith from my perspective.
I found one of Keith's videos around this time last year (late January 2025). I was immediately hooked. Around the time that he had started his channel prior to the election, I was starting to drift away from my usual daily diet (or gorge fest) on MSNBC in which I had dwelled for the past 20-25 years. I had ditched CNN by that time. I started relying more on YT and Substack independent media, as I saw the tide shifting there. I got memberships to Mockler, MTN, BTC, The Bulwark (mostly because I loved Tim Miller and met him briefly in San Francisco on his book tour), and subscribed to about 25 more I found along the way. Then Keith popped up in my algorithm (I wish it had been sooner!)
Keith was different. Although he is 19 years younger than I, he presented a wealth of knowledge, style, humor, kindness, and heart that spoke directly to me and I believe many in my generation. I FINALLY found someone who was speaking my mind. Often times he will say something and I mouth the exact same phrase or thought. I think I also gravitated toward him because we were both Midwestern, gay, from modest beginnings, and both of us spent a great deal of our lives in New York City.
His headlines, thumbs, and titles, though most would call 'click-bait', never bothered me. I went to his videos for HIM and what he had to say. I understand the need for them, but I knew he was doing everything right in this space. If it gets more eyes to him, so be it. And compared to some others out there, his were mild.
As April and May rolled around, I was even more engaged. I sent him an email (I don't know if he read it) to tell him how much I loved his work, and that I saw his success coming. It was the little things, like his ask "to like and subscribe" was short, non-rehearsed, often in different places in the video. I loved his through line story-telling in his videos. He didn't spend a lot of time showing endless clips of MSM. He sometimes found really stupid things to highlight amidst our troubling daily news cycle. And most of all, it was usually soft-spoken, conversational, and never lecturing. All with a dash of humor, some snark, compassion, and tons of LOVE. He clearly showed he loved what he was doing.
I made it my mission to do anything to help get him to 500k subs by July. I think he reached it mid-July. Then on to 1 M by the end of September. He hit a million just a couple of weeks later. During those milestones, I constantly reposted his vids to FB, started using IG a little more, and trying to spread his message anywhere I could. Also, I would contribute healthy SuperChats, making sure I commented, and followed his work on Substack. I even had an ad for his channel on my posters at No Kings March. I think rewarding good work is important.
I would like there are many of his new subscribers/members who felt as I did. I don't know if any were as fervent as I was, but he built it and we all came. He has truly motivated and inspired me to do more, think more, and be more active in a digital space. He does most of his work alone with just a couple of editors. That is undeniably mind-boggling! Especially when he is active on X, Threads, BlueSky, and IG. I literally can't keep up with him.
I am also one who enjoys his interviews. His interview with Marianne Williamson was especially good. And his back and forth with Tim Miller was hilarious. So I want to encourage him to continue them, albeit maybe fewer politicians and more change makers and democracy-loving advocates.
So, as he moves into the next chapter after an explosive year (for him AND the country), I hope more will find and support his work. I want him to find some good editors and producers so that he can enjoy the benefits of what he has created and not burn out.
He said the other day "I'm tired of defending the truth." That's what the other side wants. But I know Keith won't rest, and neither will we, until we get this ship on course and away from the iceberg.
Nevertheless, he persists.
Thank you so much, Keith.
Scott Denny
This is the part everyone pretending to be a digital “genius” hates hearing: yelling isn’t a strategy, thumbnails aren’t a personality, and audiences can smell bullshit through a 4K monitor.