[ad_1]
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races this year, the most important moments don’t come during the campaign. They are revealed on social networks.
In one stunt, Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania launched an online petition to get his Republican challenger, renowned heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Ozenshrined in the New Jersey Hall of Fame — a sign of Oz moving from his longtime home in New Jersey to run in neighboring Pennsylvania.
On the other hand, Fetterman paid $2,000 for a plane to fly a banner over Jersey Shore weekend beachgoers, welcoming Oz back home to the Garden State. And in particularly viral posts, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, star of MTV’s scandalous show “Jersey Shore,” and “Little” Steven Van Zandt of “The Sopranos” and Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band recorded videos telling Oz to go home
“Nobody wants to see you embarrassed,” Van Zandt says. “So come back to Jersey where you belong.”
For a campaign that could end up costing more than $100 million, the stunts are an inexpensive way for Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, to attract attention. The millions of views are helpful for a candidate who has largely been insulated from personal appearances after suffering a stroke in May.
And it’s about more than a laugh: The social media strategy could prove powerful in framing Oz as an outlaw who’s out of touch with the state’s residents and culture.
“The reason he stands out is that he seems to be doing the best job of anyone in this election cycle of contrasting his personality with that of his opponent,” said Dante Atkins, a Washington, D.C.-based Democratic campaign strategist. Columbia, who did no work for Fetterman.
Republicans admit Fetterman’s social media game is top-notch. But they question the value. Even at a time when most Americans use social media, many Pennsylvania voters on social media don’t see Fetterman’s material and, anyway, the election isn’t about who has the best troll game, they say.
Republicans also say Fetterman’s biggest hits miss the issues voters are most likely to consider when making up their minds: inflation, gas prices and the economy, for example.
“People don’t care where I’m from,” Oz said in an interview. “They care about what I stand for.”
Much of the material came from Fetterman himself, campaign spokesman Joe Calvello said. He does a lot of the tweeting, and if Fetterman isn’t posting it himself, he helps generate ideas.
He would drop text messages to the campaign team saying, ‘Hey how about this,’ or ‘Did you see this,'” Calvello said. “He’s still very involved.”
Other material comes from the campaign team, which develops ideas that stay on brand for Fetterman and the territory the candidate has staked out, Calvello said. This includes accusing oil companies of driving up gas prices.
The concept of trolling Oz and many of the memes also came from Fetterman, Calvello said. The idea for the Snooki video was brainstormed by several staff members, Calvello said.
Campaign staff wrote the script, and Snooki — who received less than $400 through the video-sharing website Cameo — promoted part of it, but didn’t get in on the joke until afterward.
With 3.2 million views, it marked the most Twitter engagement ever for Fetterman’s account, “and that’s a high bar,” Calvello said.
Van Zandt made his video for free and promoted his script after the campaign contacted him directly to see if he would cooperate, Calvello said.
It’s hard to know how much that will help Fetterman in a year when Democrats face stiff political headwinds, including high inflation and a traditional midterm backlash against the president’s party.
Political scientists have had difficulty isolating the forces that influence how voters decide, said Christopher Borick, assistant professor of political science at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Also, voters tend to be older than the average social media user, Borik said.
Still, the Pew Research Center last year estimated that seven out of 10 Americans use social media, and it’s undeniable that media is becoming increasingly important in reaching voters.
“The proof in the pudding is that campaigns are increasingly turning to it, and so they continue to believe it’s a necessary and key component,” Borik said.
Maggie McDonald, a postdoctoral fellow who studies social media in congressional campaigns at New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics, said Fetterman’s social media game is among the best, if not the best, she’s seen.
“My guess is that in the years to come, people will try to emulate that,” MacDonald said.
In addition to making people laugh, she said she thinks Fetterman’s stunts can motivate appreciative viewers to give money to his campaign and get apathetic Democrats off the sidelines to vote for him.
Oz tried to use the power of social media for his campaign and tried to respond to Fetterman online. He took particular note of Fetterman’s absence from traditional retail campaigns since the stroke, including the use of a meme from the television series Lost.
In response to Fetterman’s tweet about high gas prices, Oz responded, “Curious why you have to fill up your tank so often when you’re not meeting with Pennsylvanians on the campaign trail.”
Fetterman responded, “Dude, you’re literally from Jersey,” before referring to a New Jersey state law that requires gas station attendants to pump gas for drivers. “I bet you don’t even know how to pump your own gas.”
Fetterman’s campaign argues that her trolling of Oz is on par with issues that matter to voters. Some elements of it — such as the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” parody video — try to ask whether a man with a nine-figure net worth can protect ordinary people who are being squeezed by high gas prices.
In addition to opposing Oz, Fetterman is well versed in Internet culture.
“He’s extremely online, he knows his memes, he knows his internet subcultures, his campaign knows how to make things go viral and obliterate his opponent with online possessions,” Atkins said.
Don’t expect the posts to stop anytime soon.
Now, Fetterman says he’ll put up a billboard on the Betsy Ross Bridge connecting the states over the Delaware River that reminds drivers they’re leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania “just like Dr. Oz.”
___
Follow Mark Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/timelywriter.
___
Follow AP for complete midterm election coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics
[ad_2]
Source link