The Really Online Lefty League Political Action Committee is Born
New PAC to Focus on Advertising Support, Training for Progressive Campaigns
SAN FRANCISCO — With a Federal Elections Commission filing today, marketing consultant Adriel Hampton launched The Really Online Lefty League Political Action Committee, FEC # C00682203, a new entity dedicated to using Facebook advertising to boost progressive campaigns. The PAC will initially focus on several California Congressional races.
“We know that conservative extremists have mastered online advertising and promotion, that Donald Trump was the most aggressive Facebook advertiser in political history,” said Hampton. “Yet, the Democratic establishment would rather blame a Russian troll operation than get serious about online advertising and engagement. We don’t have time to wait for fat cat consultants to come around — it’s time for some trolls for good.”
Traditional political advertising in the United States relies heavily on TV. Borrell and Associates, in its April revised forecast for 2018 political ad spending, estimates that 51.4% of a projected $8.8 billion in ad spending will go to TV, while online will account for 20.1% of total spending. Globally, traditional marketers spend more than 40% of their budgets online, surpassing TV spending for the first time in 2017, according to market research firm Magna.
“It’s a real problem that political advertisers spend half as much online as consumer advertisers,” Hampton said. “But, it’s also a real opportunity for the left and for the effort to remove big money from politics — we can reach the same voters on Facebook for 5–10% the cost of direct mail, and with much more certainty about our results than TV advertising.”
Hampton’s eponymous political agency in 2018 pioneered “Facebook Deep Canvassing” advertising and organizing programs in California and ran Facebook ads in Ben Jealous’ recent primary victory in Maryland. He has raised funds online for a number of political campaigns.
The Really Online Lefty League is nonpartisan and accepts no corporate donations.
