Inside the Democrats’ Campaign Spam Machine

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Democracy is doomed unless you give $15 RIGHT NOW.” Sound familiar? Those alarmist texts flooding your phone are part of a Democratic fundraising machine Stanford political science professor Adam Bonica says is more scam than strategy — sending millions to consultants while actual campaigns see a small fraction. We’ll talk about how the system works, who profits and why changes could be on the horizon. Guests: Adam Bonica, associate professor of political science, Stanford University - his Substack is called "On Data and Democracy" Brian X. Chen, lead consumer technology writer, The New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Kiki Weedy Podcasts comes from San Francisco Opera,
0:03.8	accompany sister Helen Prejean on a life-altering journey where her faith is put to the test.
0:08.4	This fall celebrate the homecoming of one of America's most important operas, Dead Man Walking.
0:13.1	September 14th through the 28th.
0:16.5	Race the rudder.
0:17.7	Raise the sails.
0:18.9	Raise the sails.
0:20.2	Captain, an unidentified ship approaching.
0:22.3	Over.
0:22.8	Roger that.
0:23.9	Wait.
0:24.6	Is that an enterprise sales solution?
0:27.8	Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.
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0:34.2	Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today.
1:06.4	Spend £200 on your first campaign and get a £ pound credit for the next one. Go to LinkedIn.com slash lead to claim your offer. Terms and conditions apply. From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim.
1:10.5	What's up with all those political fundraising texts?
1:17.4	Chances are you've gotten one saying things like, unless you give $15 right now, democracy is doomed.
1:19.4	Doomed in all caps, of course.
1:29.5	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 campaign see just a fraction. Bonica
1:35.2	has taken a deep dive into how the system works on the Democratic Party side and who profits.
1:41.0	He'll tell us why changes could be on the horizon after this news.
	...

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