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For decades, campaigns have won by borrowing — getting union endorsements, buying TV ads, riding the audiences others built. But a small and growing number of candidates are doing something fundamentally different: building their own audiences from scratch and keeping them well beyond election day. Doug Usher, a partner at Forbes Tate Partners and co-founder of the Analytics Program at Columbia University, joins Eric Wilson to unpack how this shift is changing not just how campaigns are run, but how power works once politicians are in office. From why moderates are at a structural disadvantage in an algorithm-driven world, to why Ted Cruz and Gavin Newsom are already playing the 2028 long game through podcasts and social media, this conversation reframes what it means to run for office in 2026 — and what it will take to win.

https://www.prweek.com/article/1942874/building-vs-borrowing-zohran-mamdani-marjorie-taylor-greene-aftyn-behn-blazed-new-path

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Connected TV spending is growing — but the real question in 2026 isn't whether campaigns should be buying CTV. It's who should be managing the buy.
Eric Wilson sits down with Chauncey Southworth, CEO of CrossScreen Media, to untangle the debate between TV buyers and digital buyers over who owns the streaming buy. Chauncey breaks down where the CTV growth is actually coming from (hint: down-ballot races are surging), why siloed buying is costing campaigns real money, and what questions every campaign should be asking their vendors right now.

They also dig into a striking stat from CrossScreen founder Michael Beach: linear TV viewers see over 13 minutes of ads per hour, while streaming viewers see fewer than 4. What does that mean for your creative strategy? And how should campaigns be thinking about the light viewers who are hardest to reach on any screen?

From supply path optimization to message testing to GOTV strategy for low-propensity voters, this is a conversation that will sharpen how you think about every dollar in your video budget.

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The 2026 midterms present a fundamentally different electoral landscape for Republicans. In this episode, pollster David Kanevsky breaks down exclusive post-election survey data from Virginia and New Jersey that reveals how campaigns are now dealing with two distinct electorates: highly engaged partisans who consume news across every platform, and politically disengaged voters who stream without ads and intentionally avoid political content.

The conversation reveals a media landscape where more voters now get their TV content through streaming than traditional broadcast or cable, where news has been "unbundled" from weather and sports, and where platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn now reach more voters than X/Twitter. With nearly half of votes being cast before Election Day and the most persuadable voters being the least engaged with traditional political media, campaigns must fundamentally rethink their approach.

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Host Eric Wilson sits down with John Link, Senior Vice President of Data at Ad Impact, to unpack the eye-popping numbers behind the 2025-2026 political cycle—projected to become the most expensive midterm in U.S. history at $10.8 billion. Link reveals that three to four Senate races alone could hit the unprecedented $500 million mark, with Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and potentially Texas leading the way.

The conversation explores why House races are seeing the largest spending increases despite fewer competitive districts, how connected TV is capturing growing market share as the only expanding media category, and why early money is flooding the system faster than ever before. Link also discusses the real-world impact of mid-decade redistricting in states like California and Texas, the messaging challenges in saturated battleground markets, and why campaigns must navigate an increasingly fragmented media landscape that now includes streaming, digital, podcasting, and social platforms. For political professionals looking to understand where the industry is headed, this episode offers essential insights into the spending dynamics shaping the 2026 cycle.

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What happens when a poker champion with $3 million in tournament winnings pivots to political texting? You get Phil Gordon, founder of Prompt.io, dropping wisdom on selective aggression, ethical influence, and why your campaign texts might be getting ignored.

Whether you're managing a 50-50 race or just tired of your texts going straight to the spam folder, this episode is your permission to fold the bad hands and go all-in on what actually works.

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Wired senior writer Makena Kelly joins Eric Wilson to unpack how online fandom culture—the same energy that drives Swifties and K-Pop fans—is now fueling political movements. Through the lens of Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral campaign, Kelly reveals why young voters aren't just supporting candidates anymore—they're creating fan cams, remixing rally speeches into songs, and building participatory communities around policy issues. 

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What if the political consulting industry isn't the competitive free market everyone assumes it is? Jordan Lieberman, CEO of Powers Interactive, analyzed over 54 million federal campaign transactions to reveal the hidden architecture of political consulting. In this episode, Jordan shares eye-opening findings about vendor survival rates, the power of alumni networks, and why 93% of consultants don't make it a decade in the business. We discuss how institutions like the Leadership Institute and party committees create lasting professional networks, why digital shops churn while printers endure, and what Jordan calls the "hollowing out of the middle class" in political consulting. Plus, Jordan offers counterintuitive career advice: why losing campaigns might actually lead to more success than winning them. If you want to understand how campaign money really flows and what it takes to build a lasting career in politics, this conversation is essential listening. 

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What should smart campaigners be doing right now to prepare for 2026? In this special episode, we're sharing a recent webinar hosted by Campaigns & Elections and sponsored by Prompt.io, where host Eric Wilson sits down with Farz Sokhansanj, President of Prompt.io, to unpack the tech trends and strategic shifts that will define the next election cycle.

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Billy McBeath from Senate Leadership Fund reveals why most political campaigns are still buying connected TV like it's 2015—and what they should do instead.

He breaks down the breakthrough YouTube study that forced SLF to rebuild their entire advertising strategy mid-cycle, discovering that 14 impressions on YouTube moved polling numbers like broadcast TV. Billy explains how to get modeling, polling, and reporting to actually talk to each other, why fragmentation is costing campaigns thousands in wasted impressions, and the four rules for smarter CTV buying in 2026.

If you're spending six figures or more on digital video, this episode will save you money.

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Security expert Bruce Schneier joins Campaign Trend host Eric Wilson to discuss his upcoming book "Rewiring Democracy" and how AI is already transforming politics behind the scenes. From AI-written laws in Brazil to chatbots helping local candidates engage voters, Schneier explores AI's potential as both a democratizing force and power concentrator. He introduces his "four S's" framework for understanding when AI replaces humans and addresses why deepfakes aren't the biggest concern. The conversation covers AI polling, regulation challenges, and the concept of AI-enhanced citizenship while rejecting both utopian and dystopian extremes. 

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