Dear MoveOn member,
Joe Biden is leading in most polls, but we can't get complacent, because new data shows that Trump has a gigantic advantage on YouTube, the most popular platform on the entire internet, and that's a big, big problem.
Politico is calling YouTube Trump's "secret weapon," much like Facebook was in 2016, where Trump dominated Hillary Clinton and gained a below-the-radar advantage that didn't become apparent until it was too late.1
During a socially distanced campaign season where people are staying home and streaming more than ever before, YouTube is positioned to play an even more influential role than Facebook. So MoveOn has put together a plan to counter Trump's dominant position on YouTube, but we need your help to have the resources to pull it off and power our plan from today all the way through Election Day.
Trump's dominant YouTube following has emerged a possible "secret weapon" for his re-election. Will you chip in $3 a week to help counter his advantage and avoid a repeat of 2016? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today and will contact you shortly after the election to see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)
No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
First, let's explain how we got here: Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee have spent a combined $65 million on YouTube and Google—more than any other candidate ever.2 Biden has spent about half that, and Trump's following on social media is bigger than President Obama's, Bernie Sanders', or any Democrat's.3
Trump's campaign is testing the most effective content, doing a better job chopping up content into bite-sized, YouTube-friendly pieces, and has been described as running a "master class" on gaming YouTube's algorithms to drive traffic.4
As a result, Trump has repeatedly taken over YouTube's entire homepage. Trump's YouTube channel has posted nine times more videos than Biden's. The campaign claims to have half a billion video views over the last four months.5
Some Democrats are downplaying Biden's YouTube problem, saying that Biden's lead is too big to make a difference. But many of those same voices were confident that Trump would never win in 2016 and ignored his dominant position on Facebook.
We can't let that happen again.
We want to be clear that we will never match the Republicans dollar for dollar, but our video team is creating tons of videos and then using advanced analytics to precision-target-high potential voters in 17 battleground states.
For instance, we are using videos to get out the vote by creating videos tailored state by state to give people all the info they need on voting by mail. Other videos are aimed at persuading high-potential voters and are being message tested to make sure we're spending only on the ads that really work.
There's too much at stake in this election to tolerate a glaring disadvantage like this. But we can narrow the YouTube gap in the coming weeks—if we can fully fund our plan. Will you donate $3 a week? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today and will contact you shortly after the election to see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)
No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
Thanks for all you do.
–Elsie, Chris, Julia, Justin, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Trump deploys YouTube as his secret weapon in 2020," Politico, September 6, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/143928?t=6&akid=273813%2E40999114%2Ebep13c
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
Want to support our work? As Robert Reich says, "No organization in America has a better track record of success in developing cutting-edge strategies to get out the vote and win elections than MoveOn." But it will take each of us doing our part to defeat Trump and flip the Senate!
Will you chip in $3 a week to help MoveOn combat right-wing lies, make sure every vote is counted, and win this election?
No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
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