How Digital Changed the Political Landscape — Scott Goodstein
November 21, 2023, Medium
It was an honor to write on the evolution of digital technology for modern political campaigns for the academic series, Campaigns & Elections American Style 6th Edition.
Multimillion-Dollar ‘Disinformation Campaign’ Seeks To Make Ohio’s Big Abortion Vote About ‘Sex Change’ Operations
August 4, 2023, Talking Points Memo
Lil Miss Hot Mess, a prominent drag queen, realized about a week ago that she had been pulled into a fight over abortion in Ohio, which is over a thousand miles from her current home.
July 13, 2023, Common Dreams
As a kid, I worked in a men’s store tailor shop on the East Side of Cleveland. It was chaos, watching master tailors cut, sew, and press tiny threads into modern fashion.
Scott Goodstein: Founder Of Catalyst Campaigns
May 16, 2023, IdeaMensch
Scott Goodstein is the Founder and CEO of Catalyst Campaigns, an accomplished social impact agency focused on creating groundbreaking, effective digital campaigns.
March 25, 2023, Common Dreams
Currently, there are no significant consequences for political campaigns, their data vendors, or peer-to-peer software providers to prevent them from continuously spamming voters.
Politicians must be held accountable to FCC’s new anti-spamming rules
March 23, 2023, The Hill
Do you have a friend, maybe an ex-girlfriend or an ex-boyfriend, who won’t stop texting you? Then you know how annoying and difficult it is, once they have your number, to block them.
I thought I was done getting political text messages. Then Herschel Walker reached out
November 13, 2022, The Tribune
For a while there, I was super popular. Val Demings was texting me two or three times a day. So was Mark Kelly. I even heard from two former presidents — 44 and 45! (I’m lucky enough to have friends from both sides of the aisle.)
Text messages with misleading election info hit voters in 5 states
October 31, 2022, NBC News
Voters in five states received text messages in recent days containing false information about how to vote, but the company that sent them says it was an error.
No, Oregon election officials did not send this text message
October 21, 2022, KGW8
An official-looking text message created confusion among some Oregon voters because the information in the text — including the voter’s name or address — was incorrect. It didn’t match official voting records.
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda: Political Text Spam With Scott Goodstein Of Catalyst Campaigns
October 2022, Digital Politics With Karen Jagoda
Scott Goodstein is the CEO and Founder of Catalyst Campaigns and is active in the war against spam. He sets the stage with a description of the early days of mass text messaging by the Obama campaign in 2008.
Artists United for Change Creates Abortion Rights Billboards in Advance of the Midterm Elections
October 19, 2022, Bloomberg
As the nation continues to reel from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a group of artists has come together to call attention to the importance of fighting for abortion freedoms this November.
Artists United for Change Creates Abortion Rights Billboards in Advance of the Midterm Elections
October 19, 2022, Yahoo Finance
As the nation continues to reel from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a group of artists has come together to call attention to the importance of fighting for abortion freedoms this November.
Disinformation via text message is a problem with few answers
September 13, 2022, NBC News
The biggest election disinformation event of the 2022 midterm primaries was not an elaborate Russian troll scheme that played out on Twitter or Facebook. It was some text messages.
An Interview With Scott Goodstein About Political Text Messaging
August 11, 2022, Vocal Media
Scott Goodstein is interviewed about text messaging within politics. Text messaging for political campaigns started during Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Campaigns may have lost their most effective — and annoying — outreach tool
July 19, 2022, Vox
Text messaging — with their markedly high “open rates” — is an especially potent form of political outreach: Since 2016, texting has become one of the most appealing ways for campaigns to engage voters or supporters, especially as so many have ditched their landlines.
Catalyst Campaigns Wins Tops Industry Awards For Social Impact Digital Marketing
May 27, 2022, EIN Presswire
Catalyst Campaigns is honored to receive two top industry association awards for the work their team did on behalf of the National Women’s Soccer Players Association (NWSLPA) and their historic first collective-bargaining agreement with the NWSL.
How the FCC can protect consumers from unwanted political text message spam
May 23, 2022, The Hill
Have you been getting bombarded with unwanted political text messages on your personal cell phone? Have you noticed that opting out of these annoying messages leads to an endless game of whack-a-mole, such that replying “STOP” or “UNSUBSCRIBE” only causes you to receive similar messages from different phone numbers?
The 7,62 Project – Tracking Russian Movements in Ukraine
February 13, 2022, Catalyst Campaigns
Margo Gontar, is on the front lines of saving democracy… again! When I first met Margo, an amazing rock-n-roll spirited human, she was at the forefront of educating the world on how to fight back against Russian disinformation campaigns happening in Ukraine.
Democrats must evolve their voter communication strategies
November 9, 2021, The Hill
“I got a call from Bill Clinton!” my grandmother informed me one day many years ago, thrilled that the president of the United States had taken time out of his busy schedule to call her. But he hadn’t. Instead, it was her first encounter with an exciting new technology – robocalls – which were used to remind voters to get out and cast a ballot. Wow, did she kvell about this experience and tell all her friends to go vote for her friend Bill.
Nine anti-Trump billboards posted just days before the first Presidential debate
September 28, 2020, Cleveland 19 News
When President Donald Trump arrives in Cleveland for the first presidential debate, a number of strategically placed billboards could catch his eye. Nine anti-Trump billboards have been placed on the route from the airport to the downtown.
Don’t applaud Twitter for flagging one tweet
May 28, 2020, The Hill
Twitter may be looking to burnish its battered image by starting to flag President Trump’s tweets when they are clearly at variance with the truth, but we shouldn’t forget: This is a platform that has shown little social responsibility in the past, and we’d be fools for thinking it’s going to start now.
How Democrats can help Biden make the sale
April 29, 2020, The Hill
I grew up in retail, the son of a haberdasher, so it’s easy for me to look at the presidential campaign as a basic sales challenge. Or to quote my old man, “Don’t blame the customer for not buying a product if they were never talked to.” So why, in today’s politics, are Democrats not marketing our candidate to those who are most likely to support him?
Catalyst Campaigns’ Scott Goodstein on Yebiga, Working with Faith No More’s Bill Gould and Future Projects
April 6, 2020, Jewish Journal
Scott Goodstein is probably best known for his work with unique political campaigns that blend art, music, and culture. Having co-founded Punkvoter.com, Rock Against Bush, Artists For Obama, Artists For Bernie, DailyAction, CreativeMajority, and LadyPartsJusice, he has built impactful programs that have changed the world in which we live.
‘Remember What They Did’ Campaign Aims to Get Out Youth Vote Using Billboards and Street Team Tactics
August 28, 2020, Billboard
An edgy new national billboard campaign is using hip-hop and punk street team tactics, and original artwork from Shepard Fairey and other prominent counterculture artists, to inspire and energize voters in Black, Latinx and youth-heavy neighborhoods in advance of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Organization brings series of anti-Trump billboards to Northeast Ohio ahead of presidential debate
September 24, 2020, MKYC Studios
The first presidential debate of 2020, set to take place in Cleveland, is less than a week a way. And one organization wants to make a statement to President Trump when he arrives.
Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 9.29.20
September 29, 2020, Florida Politics
Democrats hit big VBM milestone — The Florida Democratic Party is announcing a major milestone: One-million more Democrats have enrolled in vote-by-mail than in 2018.
How an ex-Bernie digital guru and the creator of the Obama ‘Hope’ poster will be trolling President Trump as he motorcades through Cleveland for the debate
September 26, 2020, Business Insider
Former Bernie Sanders digital strategist Scott Goodstein is one of three organizers behind the art project, with one billboard featuring a cartoon President Donald Trump floating over a cemetery.
Voter outreach campaign Remember What They Did pairs damning quotes with original art
August 26, 2020, Pittsburgh City Newspaper
As the November election fast approaches, voter outreach is ramping up. That means more TV and web ads, and, for one campaign, more billboards.
Will Twitter make @RealDonaldTrump a one-term president?
July 6, 2020, The Hill
I collected football cards as a kid. I spent hours memorizing the statistics and even what the players looked like without their helmets on, just in case I ever ran into one of them at a local restaurant or at the airport, which was the only place I ever heard of anyone actually interacting with a famous person in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1980s.
Democrats: The road to kumbaya
February 13, 2020, The Hill
Several of the Democratic presidential candidates have invoked party unity in the wake of the New Hampshire primary, but the party is a long way from being united.
Case Study: How the Obama Presidential Campaign Leveraged Mobile Marketing to Generate Support, Increase Participation and Outreach
Marketing Profs
Mobile marketing offers a sense of immediacy and intimacy that few other media can. Such timely connection is what the Obama for America Presidential campaign leveraged to establish deeper relationships with supporters, provide them with breaking news, and motivate them to become active contributors and promoters.
Has Facebook learned nothing?
January 12, 2020, The Hill
What has Facebook done to solve the problem of fake news, of foreign interference in elections, or data privacy — all the issues, in other words, that have plagued the company and tarnished its reputation since the 2016 presidential election? To judge by its new policy on political advertising, the answer is: Next to nothing.
3 ways government can help clean up Twitter
November 10, 2019, The Hill
Twitter has earned a lot of positive press, and praise from both sides of the political aisle, for announcing that it will no longer allow political ads. Unfortunately, the announcement was just a diversionary tactic, not a commitment to fix the many ways in which the site is undermining our political discourse, safety and democratic health.
Democratic candidates must experiment more, communicate differently to impress a new generation of voters
August 30, 2019, The Hill
The 2020 presidential election may turn on how adeptly the Democratic Party nominee mobilizes marginal voters. And that means crafting a digital strategy to engage and enthuse specific constituencies – particularly young and minority voters – that turned out in critical numbers for Barack Obama but did not quite deliver for Hillary Clinton.
PopTech Forum Unveils 2019 Program “Shift”
October 10, 2019, PRWeb
PopTech, named by Forbes as one of the most inspiration forums in America in 2018, has announced a provocative program that will explore cultural and societal shifts from multiple points of view.
An Obama Adviser’s Tips for Netanyahu’s Rivals
June 27, 2019, HAARETZ
Scott Goodstein, a digital strategist who advised Obama during his first presidential campaign, talks about what astounds him about Israeli politics and how he would imbue its leftists with a winning spirit.
10,000 Hours: A Political Messaging Revolutionary
November 2017, American University Magazine
Scott Goodstein, SPA/BA ’95, SPA/MPA ’99, loves two things that might seem inharmonious: politics and punk rock. Ever the nonconformist, he’s fashioned a career without cooling on either and has become a Washington power player in the process.
Donald Trump Trolled Us All. We Should Learn From It.
November 16, 2016, The New York Times
For more than a year, Americans were glued to their smartphones as Donald J. Trump tweeted and retweeted misogynistic, racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic speech.
The Campaign Tech To Watch As The 2016 Race Gets Underway
2016, PRWeek
Will 2016 be the Periscope election? The Meerkat election? Or the even bigger data election? It’s not that simple, but new platforms will help campaigns perform faster and more consistently across media than ever before.
How the Sanders Campaign Got a Punk Sensibility
August 1, 2016, The New Yorker
Last Thursday, a few hours before the end of the Democratic National Convention, two consultants to the Bernie Sanders campaign, Scott Goodstein and Arun Chaudhary, sat in the lobby of their Philadelphia hotel and considered what had become of the grassroots support for the candidate.
The power players behind Bernie Sanders’ campaign
May 26, 2015, Politico
Bernie Sanders, the iconoclastic independent senator from Vermont, was the first candidate from the left to officially challenge Hillary Clinton, with a low-key announcement outside the Capitol building in late April.
Former Obama Tech Expert: Democrats Need a Competitive Primary
March 27, 2015, TIME
For much of our nation’s history, there have been insiders who aimed to quash competition within political parties. Even today, far too many party elites seem to think uncontested primaries are better. However, competitive primaries force an evolution of organizing models and new technologies that benefits campaigns and the public.
Summer’s Barbeque and Political Season Is Here: Time to Hold the Spam
July 30, 2014, HuffPost
As you got out the charcoal for the barbecue last weekend while gathering with friends and family, you may have felt your phone buzzing in your pocket. Maybe it was a pal looking for last minute directions — or maybe it was an anonymous text warning you that Candidate X “supports homosexuality and its radical social agenda” or “denies protection to babies who survive abortions.” Serious buzzkill delivered to you in the form of unwanted, anonymous and misleading junk messages in the middle of your picnic.
Would Martin Luther King March Today?
August 26, 2013, The HuffPost
While celebrating this 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s dream, I feel it is important to think about new ways of organizing and different ways to more effectively pass legislation. Would a similar group of considered radical “outsiders” get their message heard today?
Punk Politico: Revolution Messaging’s Scott Goodstein
December 3, 2013, Washingtonian
On a Sunday in early April, Scott Goodstein set off on a motorcycle tour of Maryland horse country with his cousin and a friend from political circles. They hadn’t gone far when, at 7:30 in the morning, a GMC Yukon pickup truck coming in the other direction caught the front tire of Goodstein’s Yamaha.
Vote 4 Me!!
March 5, 2012, Slate
The political consultants who want to send you unsolicited text messages, and the man who is fighting to stop them.
Ex-Obama Aide Hosts Medical Fundraiser at Vendetta
November 21, 2013, Roll Call
Communications guru Scott Goodstein wants to thank the trauma team that came to his rescue after a life-threatening motorcycle wreck earlier this spring.
Company wants exemption from FEC on disclaimers on political ads on smartphones
September 11, 2013, The Washington Times
A D.C.-based media firm is petitioning the Federal Election Commission to exempt political advertisements on mobile and smartphones from standard ad sponsor disclaimers as campaign messaging adapts to ever-changing technologies.
Texting has promise, peril for campaigns
April 9, 2012, The Washington Times
Text messaging is posing both new opportunities and dangers for America’s political campaigns. The most widely used form of mobile communication, it has become one of the most effective ways for campaigns to reach supporters, using 160-character messages to encourage last-minute donations or provide information such as where to vote.
The 2013 Mobile Evolution
December 12, 2012, The HuffPost
Lost in all the punditries of 2013 about which groups helped win the presidency in our evolving electorate, we are missing the importance of not just the changing demographics, but a seismic shift in how Americans digest news and information.
An Open Letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski — Take Action and Stop Political Text Spam
May 31, 2012, The HuffPost
It’s important for the FCC to address political text spam because this is more than just an annoying form of political communication; it’s an invasion of privacy that costs you money.
Mobile vs. FEC
December 22, 2010, The HuffPost
The FEC just put a halt to political contributions via text message. The CTIA (the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) accused the FEC of “a history of imposing additional burdens that are above and beyond what the law requires,” but the real problem is the carriers’ inability to deliver contributions in a timely manner.
How Obama used social networking tools to win
July 10, 2009, Knowledge Insead
Obama’s Social Media Guru On Marketing, Media, Music
October 4, 2009, NPR
Scott Goodstein was in charge of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s social networking strategy during the presidential campaign. This week, he’s a panelist at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. He speaks to guest host Jacki Lyden about the future of marketing, media and music in the Internet age.
Obama campaign manager talks new media
January 11, 2009, Los Angeles Times
Scott Goodstein, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign manager, ran all of the text-messaging and mobile communications for the president-elect’s campaign. The Ticket recently talked to him in detail about the campaign’s new-media strategy.
The Man Behind Obama
May 26, 2009, Campaign Live
At last month’s Digital Britain Summit a surprise appearance by Prime Minister Gordon Brown saw him emphasise the importance of the internet to the UK economy. With a general election a certainty before June 2010, the main political parties are now thinking about how they can use the web to enhance their campaign strategies.
Defend the Press, Sarah Olson, Declare Victory in Watada Court Martial
January 29, 2009, PRWatch
The Honolulu Advertiser first reported the breaking news that “The U.S. government has agreed to drop two charges that carried a maximum of two years in prison against Army 1st Lt.
Interview: Scott Goodstein
April 21, 2009, Third Sector
Scott Goodstein is one of eight digital media experts worthy of the title ‘Barack Obama’s web guru’, according to a satirical piece on influential US gossip website Gawker.com.
Obama’s Wide Web
August 20, 2008, Washington Post
Amid the cramped, crowded cubicles inside Sen. Barack Obama‘s campaign headquarters here, sandals are as ubiquitous as iPods. Two young guys in shorts and T-shirts throw a football around.
MC5 guitarist offers guidance to young political activists
Thursday, September 22, 2005, The Eagle Online
Since the day in 1965 that he teamed up with Fred “Sonic” Smith to form Detroit’s MC5, guitarist Wayne Kramer has been one of the most influential and important political rock and roll musicians of all time.
Don’t mention the war – unless you’re over 50
June 22, 2006, The Guardian
Neil Young’s latest album, Living With War, was supposed to be more than a collection of protest songs. To optimistic critics of the occupation of Iraq, it heralded a tipping point – the moment when the silent majority would finally make itself heard.
Acts Band Together To Save Legendary Club
July 28, 2005, The Washington Post
Punk acts young, old and reunited have pledged their support for the legendary New York club CBGB, which is fighting to renew a soon-to-expire lease and may be forced to close shop entirely.
Bloomberg Offers City’s Help as Deadline Nears for CBGB
August 31, 2006, The New York Times
The club CBGB, facing eviction after its lease expires at midnight tonight, gained an unexpected ally yesterday in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who called the East Village showcase for stage-diving, youthful angst and obscenity-laced punk rock songs “a great New York City institution.”
Save the last slam dance for me at CBGB
August 31, 2005, The LA Times
A sultry dusk settled over the neighborhood where Bleecker Street runs into the Bowery, and Ana Samcho, 22, was nervous. She was to fly home to Portugal in four days, hadn’t made it yet to CBGB, the famous East Village punk dive, and advance tickets for the night’s lineup were gone.
Punk, Indie acts band together to “Save CBGB”
July 27, 2005, Today
Punk acts young, old and reunited have pledged their support for embattled New York club CBGB, which is fighting to renew a soon-to-expire lease and may be forced to close up shop entirely.
CBGB Announces August Show Schedule To Benefit Save CBGB Campaign; The Vandals, Kid Dynamite, Misfits, Chevelle, Youth Brigade All Added to August Schedule
July 26, 2005, WebWire
After weeks of trying to receive a new lease CBGB Nightclub is still working to achieve an agreement with their landlord, The Bowery Resident’s Committee.