This story is three days old but I don’t find any mention on dKos, so here.
As you may remember, billionaire Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is paying people for positive mentions on social media. There is just one problem: according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, those taking the money aren’t serious about it.
A look inside the strategy — based on documents reviewed by The Times, interviews with five of these organizers and an examination of the operation’s social media output — shows that many have been using accounts created within the last month for their Twitter posts. At least two had openly posted in support of other candidates. And unlike the high-profile influencers the campaign recently hired to create viral memes, the vast majority of these organizers have modest personal audiences. On Twitter, many have fewer than 20 followers.
Here is one example they quote:
“Sam Donaldson just nailed it: Mike Bloomberg is the president we need to unite our country!” he texted one of his friends Monday through Outvote — the app organizers use to reach out to their personal networks. He drew on language provided to him by the campaign and logged the text as part of his Bloomberg organizer responsibilities.
But he quickly followed up with a personal addendum: “Please disregard, vote Bernie or Warren.”
(I note that the Times used the last quote for their title, with one omission: they left out the “or Warren” part. I don’t know what to make of this...)
All this happened after multiple leaks from the campaign in recent weeks.