Commentary
Artificial Opposition: The dangers of generative AI in negative campaigning
Opposition research operates on the guiding principle that someone’s beliefs, influences, and actions tell us something meaningful about their judgment, priorities, and fitness for public office. Artificial intelligence offers campaigns a convenient, if deeply unethical, workaround: Have a digital puppet of the opponent say or do whatever makes the strongest attack. Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate…
Manufacturing Receipts: When campaign visuals become factual claims
Photo sourced from WITF Anyone who has worked at the intersection of campaign research and communications knows the challenge: You have a compelling finding, a stack of supporting documents, and approximately three seconds to make the relevant point legible to someone who is watching television—while also probably doing something else. The researcher wants precision; the…
Family Matters: Why campaigns need to research their messengers
Photo sourced from @wcdispatch on Twitter As the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in Ohio history nears its end, Republican candidate and billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy is deservedly facing bipartisan pushback for a $4 million attack ad campaign featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. “Amy has a serious problem, she is a liar,…
Explainers
Defensive Research: Uncovering your public self-portrait
Most people approach opposition research with someone else in mind. They want to understand a competitor, scrutinize a candidate, or figure out who is behind an organization suddenly spending a suspicious amount of money. Fair enough. But if your strategy depends on drawing a contrast between yourself and someone else, you need to understand both…
Let’s Get Into It: What exactly is competitive intelligence? And what is it not?
What is the common perception? Tell someone you work in opposition research, and there’s a reasonable chance they’ll respond with some version of: “So, you dig up dirt?” I get it. People generally encounter this work when a campaign releases something damaging about its opponent, not while a researcher is reading through years of business…