Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, Facebook's pre-election charm offensive and how a new technology that lets us get out of stores faster is also costing us more money.

But first, the midterms.

We are just two and a half weeks away from going to the ballot box. And while we don't yet know if Democrats will take control of Congress, we do know that they

will have raised the most money ever to try.

The Washington Post reports that Democratic candidates have raised over $1 billion this cycle.

That's about 30% more than the Republicans have raised and $1 billion this cycle. That's about 30% more than

the Republicans have raised and also tops the previous record, set by Republicans in 2012,

by around $100 million. And just for a bit more context, Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate

for Senate in Texas, trying to unseat Ted Cruz, raised $38 million just

last quarter, yet just in three months. And that's more than Jeb Bush raised for his entire

presidential campaign. The big question now, then, is, will it matter? Back in 2012, it certainly did.

That's when Republicans, fueled by the Tea Party, took the gavel back from Nancy Pelosi.

And certainly, every campaign needs money to pay for staff and data and doorknob hangers.

But a big difference between 2012 and today is digital media, and specifically how candidates share their messages and biographies.

Six years ago, even though obviously

everybody was on the internet, television was still considered king. Today, though, a smart

candidate would rather create a viral YouTube clip, with millions of people intentionally

clicking to watch rather than run into a bathroom during commercials of their favorite show.

Now, remember, Donald Trump spent way less than Hillary Clinton

during the presidential campaign. And part of that was all the free media Trump got for being

reliably outrageous. But another part was that dollars can just go a lot farther now than they

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