Welcome to Pay Dirt—exclusive reporting and research from The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay on corruption, campaign finance, and influence-peddling in the nation’s capital. For Beast Inside members only.
Democrats hoping for a silver bullet against President Trump in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian-election meddling were sorely disappointed when Attorney General Bill Barr reported no conclusive and prosecutable evidence that the Trump campaign had conspired with Kremlin agents during the 2016 campaign.
But prominent Democrats have nevertheless found a way to make lemonade out of this lemon. As they publicly call for the release of Mueller’s full investigative report, they’re using that rallying cry to beef up their email and social-media lists through sham “polls” and “petitions” pegged to the special counsel’s findings and the need to release them publicly.
“Should the public get to read Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report? Tell us what you think,” beckoned one recent Facebook ad run by Trump impeachment champion Tom Steyer, and funded by his political group, Need to Impeach. The ad, and dozens like it, linked to an online “poll” that serves no real purpose but to harvest the information of potential supporters and add them to Steyer’s juggernaut of an email distribution list.
Virtually every big name in Democratic politics is doing something similar, either through a poll or a petition to which supporters can “add your name!” and supposedly increase public pressure to release Mueller’s findings. Presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, and John Delaney are all running Facebook ads begging viewers to affix their names—and their contact information—to such petitions. Sens. Mark Warner, Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden, and Debbie Stabenow are doing the same. The Democratic National Committee has gone the petition route, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has opted for Steyer-esque “polls.”
The Trump campaign, of course, has gone full tilt on the Mueller report to boost its own fundraising numbers, and its recent Facebook ads have largely asked for financial contributions. But Democrats’ campaigning on the issue shows how even the “losing” side can squeeze some utility out of a political fight.
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