Office Hours with Karpf and Loge – Strategic political communication hot takes with footnotes.
Dave Karpf, PhD and Peter Loge look at communication campaigns in the news, explain what’s working and what’s not, and how to make it all better.
Professors Karpf and Loge teach strategic communication in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. Karpf is the author of several books on digital politics and once sort of accidentally made Bret Stephens cry. Loge has spent 30 years working in politics and strategic communication and is unreasonably proud of getting a 10/10 on RoomRater.
Dave Karpf is on Twitter at @davekarpf and check out his Substack The Future, Now and Then. Peter Loge is on Twitter at @ploge and you’re already on his webpage.
Office Hours with Karpf and Loge — The Footnotes
Every other week Dave Karpf, PhD and Peter Loge look at communication campaigns in the news, explain what’s working and what’s not, and how to make it all better. The podcast has the analysis, here are the links.
Professors Karpf and Loge teach strategic communication in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. Karpf is the author of several books on digital politics and once sort of accidentally made Bret Stephens cry. Loge has spent 30 years working in politics and strategic communication and is unreasonably proud of getting a 10/10 on RoomRater.
Dave Karpf is on Twitter at @davekarpf and check out his Substack The Future, Now and Then. Peter Loge is on Twitter at @ploge and you’re already on his page on Medium.
Season Two, Episode Five: Karpf praises Sen. Manchin and is troublingly optimistic, why the Forward party is a dumb idea, the Republican fundraising platform WinRed continues to be terrible and what comms professionals can learn from all of it. Plus Karpf wears a meta Mountain Goats t-shirt, Loge praises the English women’s national soccer team and warns about holes ocean floor.
WinRed versus Google (the Washington Post)
The Campaign Legal Center on WinRed
Trump and other Republicans had to return $135+ in scammed online donations (Shane Goldmacher in the New York Times — follow Shane on Twitter and read his work in the NYT).
Popular online fundraising and campaign tactics can hurt Democrats (Lara Putnam and Micah Sifry in the New York Times)
Republican O.G. Karl Rove on Trump’s email fundraising scam (Wall Street Journal)
Trump’s email fundraising is hurting Republicans (Washington Examiner and the New York Times)
Andrew Yang and Tinkerbell Politics (Dave Karpf on Substack)
The Forward party is ridiculous (Jamelle Bouie the New York Times)
England won the women’s Euros (BBC). A great team and a great tournament. The sport will never be the same.
Holes on the ocean floor (New York Times). Sea monsters? Or was Waterworld a terrible movie but a great documentary (or both)?
Season Two, Episode Four: Kavanaugh steak-out and gluing yourself to paintings — then what? Plus crisis comms for shark attacks and Uber, and Loge tries to explain The Rockford Files to Karpf.
What is the strategic communications value of attention-getting stunts? How can communications professionals build on actions like disrupting Supreme Court Justices eating dinner and activists gluing themselves to paintings? Plus Karpf still has opinions about Elon Musk and Loge is aghast Karpf has never seen the Rockford Files. You can check out all of the episodes on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
Links to support for Karpf and Loge’s arguments (and links to other miscellany) are below.
Protesters gluing themselves to paintings in the U.K., via The New York Times
The State of Congress from the Partnership on Public Service
“The incentive structure for collaboration is lower than at any point in my career.” — Legislative Director, Senate personal office
The Politics of Attention by Bryan Jones and Frank Baumgartner
Crisis comms lessons from responding to shark attacks, via PR News
The Rockford Files and the James Garner estate auction.
This is Jim, leave a message at the tone.
Season Two – Episode Three: The Supreme Court, democracy is a plate of Jell-O melting in the Arizona Sun, and robot fish with lasers.
Karpf and Loge continued the second season of the podcast talking about recent US Supreme Court rulings on abortion, guns and federal regulations. Loge compared democracy to Jell-O melting in the hot Arizona sun and warned about robot fish with lasers. You can check out all of the episodes on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
Links to support for Karpf and Loge’s arguments (and links to other miscellany) are below.
US Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) remarks at the Reagan Library.
“But the reality that we face today, as Republicans, as we think about the choice in front of us, we have to choose. Because Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the constitution.”
List of Democrats (and how to donate to them) running against seditionists and election deniers. The bigger the number in red in column H, the more likely a Republican will win. The bigger the number in blue, the more likely a Democrat will win (technically smaller because they’re negative numbers). We have not vetted this list, just passing it along.
What to do after Dobbs:
Spitfire Strategies has terrific post-Dobbs advice here, and more ideas here.
“Most important of all, in the middle of the terrible, traumatic events happening, keep providing hope. Hope leads to action.”
What Now, What Next, What Then? A piece I put on Medium when the decision was leaked (fans of the pod will recognize this from Season One, Episode Five footnotes where we offer additional resources and ideas).
States and localities acting climate, via the New York Times.
Bo sticks lessons for beginners (Karpf’s advice for surviving the coming dystopia).
Self-repairing robot fish with lasers from The Guardian.
Season Two, Episode Two:
What are words for?
Karpf and Loge continued the second season of the podcast sticking with guns and the Jan 6 Commission, and add the death of the administrative state to the mix. You can check out all of the episodes on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
Links to support for Karpf and Loge’s arguments (and links to other miscellany) are below.
“Do you hear me/do you care” Missing Persons, Words
Guns
Should Hollywood model gun safety? (The Hill)
Gun violence and public health on NPR and the American Public Health Association
Metaphors and crime — Metaphors We Think With: The Role of Metaphor in Reasoning
The January 6th Commission
Voters think the Jan. 6th Commission is fair and a majority think Trump is culpable. But views are partisan, and no one is changing their mind —
Morning Consult/Politico poll
ABC News/Ipsos poll
A lot of people are paying attention, or not. (The Guardian)
Both Trump and the Democrats are fundraising off the hearing (Bloomberg)
Democratic digital consultant Mike Nellis on why the hearings aren’t great for Dem fundraising
Not Jan. 6
The death of the administrative state, and possibly the planet (New York Times)
Kate Bush Running Up That Hill
Karpf being smart in the New York Times
Karpf being smart on someone else’s podcast
Season Two, Episode One:
Can comms solve guns?
or, Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Oh, it’s a gun.
Karpf and Loge launch the second season of Office Hours with a discussion about the gun debate in America, Elon Musk, Congressional January 6th hearings, and Paris Hilton’s desire to be the Queen of the Metaverse.
Check it out on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
Links to support for Karpf and Loge’s arguments (and links to other miscellany) are below.
Guns
A mass shootings database.
Karpf’s Substack piece on the gun debate.
Loge’s Medium piece on the gun debate.
The N.R.A.s Lobbyist Behind Florida’s Pro-Gun Policies from The New Yorker.
Polling can be misleading and a critique of that position.
A Republican Congressman in New York who supported assault weapon ban is being chased out of Congress (NYT).
A thoughtful “yes/and” take by Isaac Saul.
Not Guns
The White House is paying interns — this is a big deal.
DeSantis vs the Special Olympics. Having successfully raised taxes on Florida homeowners by beating a pretend mouse, the Florida governor bravely put kids’ health at risk by tackling the Special Olympics.
Christian Pulisic on US fans and here ($80 tickets didn’t help). His comments pale in comparison to French officials and UEFA after the Champions League final.
The House January 6 Commission hearings are starting(Just Security).
Paris Hilton wants to be the queen of the metaverse.
Episode Six:
Karpf and Loge wrap up the the first season of Office Hours, look at Facebook’s textbook DC advocacy, and Dave wonders if democracy will die in Pennsylvania.
Check it out on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
Footnotes – Links to some what we referenced in the podcast, and to other readings listeners might find interesting.
New York Times remembrance of Donald Ross, public interest advocate and co-founder of M+R Strategic Services.
More Common Sense, Less Ideology: Modern Communications Lessons from the Critical Race Theory Debates – Nat Kendall-Taylor, CEO of Frameworks, on smart messaging.
Alvaro Bedoya confirmed at the Federal Trade Commission.
Facebook as a case study in strategic communication and policy advocacy, via The Washington Post.
An insurrectionist could be the next governor of Pennsylvania, from The New Yorker:
Earlier this week, Doug Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator who used campaign funds to send six charter buses to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, won the G.O.P. primary for governor…
One way the right is framing student loan forgiveness:
Episode Five:
Karpf and Loge talk about responding to the Supreme Court probably overturning Roe v. Wade and America’s political trailer park of doom. Plus Loge urges journalists to ignore the squirrels, and Karpf mocks Loge for still having an AOL account.
Check it out on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform
Footnotes – Links to some of what we referenced in the podcast, and to other readings our listeners might find interesting.
Abortion
Liberate Abortion has links to ways to promote and protect women’s rights locally and nationally.
The Stanford Social Innovation Review has a terrific piece worth checking out – How Should the Social Sector Respond to an Abortion Upheaval?
Decoding Abortion Rhetoric by Celeste Condit is an important scholarly work on abortion politics. Her work is worth checking out in general.
Advice for advocates
Give people specific ways to help, and ask what now, what next, what then. On Medium (because Karpf shamed me about my own blog).
Protest
The Myth of the Silent Majority – Americans have learned the wrong lessons about the political consequences of protest by Daniel Q. Gillian. His book The Loud Minority: Why Protests Matter in American Democracy is also terrific.
Why Civil Resistance Works: The strategic logic of non-violent protest by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan makes a compelling case for the power of non-violent protest. A shorter version from International Security is here.
Minority Rule
Republicans represent a minority of Americans
The Republican candidate for President has received a majority of votes only once since 1988 (Bush in 2004, 50.7%)
Bailing Out
For those tired of living in America’s political trailer park of doom, here are homes for sale along Italy’s Amalfi Coast. The politics might be terrible, but the views are lovely and the wine is very good.
The grift that keeps on grifting
One way Republicans are raising money off overturning Roe is below (click below to see full sized). Message: Overturning Roe threatens the right to life, click to sign the petition. The petition is a request for money that turns into an automatic recurring donation, you have to opt out of automatically giving money every month rather than opting in.
Episode Four:
Karpf and Loge talk about Earth Day and the challenges of climate messaging, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis jacking up property taxes so he can get on TV by picking a fight with a pretend mouse. Plus Karpf thinks more politicians will try to score points by attacking children and that Democrats should play offense in the “culture wars,” and Loge talks FCC and FTC confirmation votes while working in several gratuitous references to a Joy Division – Teletubbies video. Links supporting their hot takes (plus some bonus links!) are below.
Watch on YouTube and listen on your favorite podcast platform
A Joy Division – Teletubbies video
Earth Day
Earth day events may shape views of climate and the environment
There are lot of “National Days”
Bonus Earth Day links
Climate Denialism is the Worst. Doomism Isn’t the Alternative
Americans are more divided – and care less – about climate than people in other countries are
Yale Climate project on climate communication
Florida
Opponents are framing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ attacks on Disney as a tax hike
And More!
The Senate confirmations of Alvaro Bedoya to the FTC and Gigi Sohn to the FCC are in trouble.
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow plays offense in the “culture wars”
Episode Three:
How should the Democrats talk about inflation and the economy? Does it even matter? Plus Karpf talks about the history of the digital future and Loge warns about 66 million year old spores from space that will kill us all. Watch on YouTube and listen on your favorite podcast platform.
Footnotes – Some of the sources we referenced in the discussion
Leonard Cohen – You Want it Darker
The Music Man – Right Here in River City
Can Three New Words Save the Democrats from Disaster? (spoiler: no)
Cook Political Report – 2022 House Overview: Still a GOP Advantage, but Redistricting Looks Like a Wash
FiveThirtyEight – Why The President’s Party Almost Always Has A Bad Midterm
Vox – The presidential penalty
John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse – Stealth Democracy
Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Fast and Slow
The New York Times – Shards of Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs May Have Been Found in Fossil Site
Episode Two:
The communications around the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Karpf both warns about the “shadow docket” and makes a play for a mattress sponsor, and Loge mourns the passing of the inventor of the GIF and the person who brought the TRS-80 to market. Watch on YouTube and listen of your favorite podcast platform.
Footnotes – Some of the sources we referenced in the discussion.
The Pew Research Center on public opinion of the Supreme Court
Professor Rachel Shelden in the Washington Post – “The Supreme Court used to be openly political“
Ilya Shapiro for the Cato Institute – “Just Accept It: The Supreme Court Has Always Been Political “
Robert Dahl “The Concept of Power“
Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent in the Washington Post – “The Supreme Court isn’t bothering to hide its designs on our democracy” (discusses the “shadow docket”)
SCOTUS Blog forum on “the shadow docket“
Remembering Stephen Wilhite, inventor of the GIF, and John Roach who brought the TRS-80 to market.
Predictions:
Dave and Peter: The US Senate will confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to the US Supreme Court.
Dave: The story over the next two weeks will be the economy.
Peter: The US men’s national team will qualify for the World Cup.
Episode One:
What Ukraine means for advocates of other issues, the mask is the message, and whatever occurs to us next. Watch it here and listen here.
Footnotes – Some of the sources we referenced in the discussion.
New Yorker review of Philip Tetlock’s Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? “Human beings who spend their lives studying the state of the world, in other words, are poorer forecasters than dart-throwing monkeys…”
Airbnb offering free short term housing, and people paying for Airbnbs they won’t use
The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information by Frank Pasquale
“Snazzy solidarity: is celebrity and fashion support for Ukraine crass?” The Guardian
Stealth Democracy by John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
Counties that went for Trump in 2016 had lower levels of mask wearing – National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
The shifting politics of mask mandates – The Washington Post
Axios-Ipsos poll: Media habits defined the COVID culture war, Axios – “By the end of last month, just 16% of those who said they get most of their news from Fox or other conservative outlets still said they trust the CDC, compared to 77% of those who favor network news and major national newspapers and 87% of those who primarily watch CNN or MSNBC.”
Predictions
In two weeks there will be a new phase in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine