“One way to look at the dilemma facing the United States right now is that, to oppose authoritarianism, Jake and I want the party to be building a mass movement and the party wants to be building spreadsheets.” @adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social talk with Osita Nwanevu:

Which Way, Democratic Party?

A conversation on the primaries, the establishment’s “moderation” obsession, and why the party needs social movements more than spreadsheets and scammy fundraising.

bostonreview.net

@adambonica.bsky.social spent a year on a major investigation into the predatory fundraising techniques used by many Democratic orgs that wind up harming elderly Americans. But two prominent outlets reneged on plans to publish it. We dive deep into this important report on this week's podcast -->

How Democratic 'spam PACs' victimize vulnerable seniors

Listen now | Adam Bonica explains the harm to the elderly—and the Democratic Party

the-downballot.com

This may be the most *important* interview we've ever done. As Bonica explains, powerful institutions sought to suppress the publication of his report on the feeblest of grounds. We're proud to call attention to his findings—and the warning he's sending.

The Downballot@the-downballot.com · last wk.

@adambonica.bsky.social spent a year on a major investigation into the predatory fundraising techniques used by many Democratic orgs that wind up harming elderly Americans. But two prominent outlets reneged on plans to publish it. We dive deep into this important report on this week's podcast -->

nice quote from Mandami comms person Emilia Rowland to the New York Times

Seth Moulton ran the campaign Third Way has been asking for and

Perry Bacon@perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 2w ago

An absolutely essential @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social piece. I want to share almost every sentence on here. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/you-can-ig...

But people like Deva Woodly, Jake Grumbach, Adam Bonica, while perhaps not who Hakeem Jeffries listens to, have much better insights about politics in 2026 than most of the prominent writers in big publications. They have better insights than me, so I interview and quote them!

Perry Bacon@perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 2w ago

The point that @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social is making is that even people who consider themselves sophisticated consumers of media treat employees of certain publications as being inherently smarter than others. Not just more influential, but smarter. Prestige warps our brains, including mine.

This stuff is honestly way more damaging to the party’s brand than some twitch streamer

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 2w ago

These are the types of fundraising emails spam PACs are blasting out to their lists.

Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields concert raising $20m for abortion care nonprofits (among others) while putting on an absolute banger of a show should be getting more play than it is in the millennial retirement home that is Bluesky

As @adambonica.bsky.social has been doing the Lord's work in demonstrating, there is a significant portion of the Democratic Party extended network who exist solely to grift. The fundraisers have political consultants attached to them and neither wants to do anything other than raise money.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w ago

Yell at me for being a doomer but I mean, of course they're falling for the Piker thing. Of course they're going to fall for the next thing. Of course they're going to be scared off of any major reforms or accountability. The media hasn't changed, Dem leadership hasn't changed, it's all the same!

“Every policy that is responsible for the affordability crisis in the US can be traced back to a policy written and bought by big money. [C]orruption is not some esoteric abstract issue. Corruption is why the working class and middle class of this country is being immiserated.” @davidsirota.com

David Sirota: How to get obscenely rich while losing to Donald Trump, the Democrats' failures explained

David Sirota joins Taya Graham and Stephen Janis to expose the enormous financial incentives shaping Democratic politics and why political consultants can accumulate “generational wealth” even when th...

therealnews.com

Here are more captive Democratic fundraising spam donors. Again, there are thousands of cases like these. 82yo from OK: $300K across 22K donations 87yo from RI: $286K across 19.5K donations 84yo from NM: $24K across 2.5K donations 73yo from CA: $521K across 28K donations

This week’s premium episode covers several hot news stories, including the Democrats’ fundraising scam PACs, and also we read some of the weird pitches we get in our inbox.

John Roberts is on Substack, U.S. Attorneys are Fake, and the DNC is a Scam [SUBSCRIBER-ONLY] | 5-4

John Roberts is on Substack, U.S. Attorneys are Fake, and the DNC is a Scam [SUBSCRIBER-ONLY] by 5-4 on Patreon. Join 5-4's community for exclusive content and updates.

patreon.com

The business model of spam fundraising depends on hooking a group of elderly donors who give at a disturbing frequency, summing to sizable amounts. Most of them don't appear especially wealthy. I've compiled a handful of these cases. There are thousands of cases like these in the FEC data. 🧵

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

In the time it took two publications to decide not to say so, the captive spam donors I documented made 9 million donations, totaling $170 million. Among them are thousands of vulnerable seniors who keep clicking “donate,” [...] for an extractive industry that treats them as captive revenue.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

This is extremely damning and if the relevant decision makers in the Democratic Party had an ounce of foresight they would recognize that incubating these kinds of scams is only going to undermine attempts to rebuild a functioning mass party in the future.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

I could not be prouder of my pal @adambonica.bsky.social, who, as we say in the South, is always willing to tell the truth and shame the devil.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

The Bulwark Killed an Investigation into Political Fundraising Spam After Its Publisher Took the Consultants’ Side

This is a story about the Democratic Party captured by its consultants, and about what happens when the pro-democracy press is asked to say so.

data4democracy.substack.com

It’s a new @adambonica.bsky.social joint! data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-bulwar...

The Bulwark Killed an Investigation into Political Fundraising Spam After Its Publisher Took the Consultants’ Side

This is a story about the Democratic Party captured by its consultants, and about what happens when the pro-democracy press is asked to say so.

data4democracy.substack.com

We have a major Democratic law firm, two major party committees, and two media outlets dead to rights suppressing research into how digital fundraising firms scam seniors and barely a peep from the national press corps or elected officials. A goddamn shame.

Aaron Huertas@aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 4w ago

Maybe I’m missing something but I’m not seeing any second-day reporting on the DSCC and DCCC suppressing a political scientists’s report about their shady email + text fundraising practices. I checked Google News and searched for related terms on here. Anybody else seeing anything?

“Maybe he has a better idea” is the funniest thing I have read in ages 😂😂

"Institutions are in some ways more than the sum of their parts, and in other ways less." >> Weakness at the top of institutions easily cancels out courage in the ranks. True right now of news outlets, the Democratic Party, and many elite universities.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 4w ago

I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.

Absolute hot fire!!! www.thenation.com/article/poli...

I'm so grateful that young quant-oriented scholars in the field can see a scholar like @adambonica.bsky.social—quantitatively rigorous as they come—using that rigor in service of the public good and public understanding.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 4w ago

I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.

The NYT explicitly claiming no publication date was set and fact checkers hadn't signed off, being shown explicit proof to the contrary, and responding with "we stand by the [literally just proven to be wrong] statement provided" is remarkable

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 4w ago

I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.

Bonica pulling back the curtain on the institutions that claim to stand between us and authoritarianism, whether it’s Democratic fundraising PACs or the NYT. This piece is like a movie.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 4w ago

I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.

“Institutions unwilling to hold themselves accountable will fail to hold other powerful actors accountable. The incentives run the same way in newsrooms and in political parties.”

With Fear and Favor

Institutions don’t have courage. They have incentives.

data4democracy.substack.com

I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.

With Fear and Favor

Institutions don’t have courage. They have incentives.

data4democracy.substack.com

PSA: @adambonica.bsky.social is a badass. So impressed with his piece on spam PACs targeting seniors. The Democratic party needs to get on top of this. Follow and subscribe to his substack! data4democracy.substack.com/p/hook-and-s...

Hook and Squeeze

How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.

data4democracy.substack.com