I’ve read several news stories about how the GOP is allowing Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA to take the lead on its get-out-the-vote efforts. That first story in Politico already questioned whether or not Kirk’s group could be effective:
“They’re very influential,” said Jay Shepard, the RNC committee member from Vermont. “Effective? That depends on what your measurement is. They are certainly a messaging juggernaut and fundraising juggernaut.”
While lauding the organization’s large number of “boots on the ground,” he said, “The real test is always the day after the election, and who wins and who loses.”
Right. I just want to point out that I keep reading stories about how many people were inspired to register to vote by Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris.
If there were a really effective GOP get-out-the-vote operation, I feel like we’d be getting all these dark profiles of Kirk, and stories implying that Turning Point USA is using questionable legal methods to steal the election. Nobody was embarrassed four years ago about spreading the theory that Trump was going to steal the election by using post offices.
We got those profiles of Cambridge Analytica in 2016 for its small part in helping Brexit and Donald Trump — even though, by the standards set by the Obama campaign in 2012, these were minuscule digital campaigns.
If they’re not accusing you of having dark, mysterious powers of influence, you probably aren’t having any impact at all and don’t belong in Republican politics.