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From KQED.

Music From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim. Coming up on forum, what's up with all those political fundraising texts?

Chances are you've gotten one saying things like,

unless you give $15 right now, democracy is doomed. doomed in all caps, of course.

Stanford professor Adam Bonica says they're likely part of a political fundraising machine

that could be described as more scam than spam, sending hundreds of millions of dollars raised to consultants,

while actual campaigns see just a fraction.

Bonica has taken a deep dive into how the system works on the Democratic Party side

and who profits.

He'll tell us why changes could be on the horizon after this news.

Welcome to the. I'm Mina Kim.

Does it feel like political fundraising texts and emails are constant, and also increasingly unhinged?

If you've gotten messages claiming Nancy Pelosi is sobbing because you haven't donated yet,

or that your donation will be matched by some astronomical percentage,

you've probably met the Democratic fundraising machine that Adam Bonica says is treating its supporters like Marx

and ultimately destroying the party's brand.

Listeners, if you get these kinds of messages, how do they make you feel?

Bonica is Associate Professor of Political Science at Stanford, and his substack is called

...