Read Recent FWIW Issues

How have campaigns and organizations on both sides been using digital advertising to drive narratives around the issue of abortion and engage their supporters? How have conservative groups attempted to reframe the abortion debate with coordinated, extreme - and false - messaging?

Who else is spending money to create content that shapes public perceptions and drives messaging in support of Trump and his agenda? We take a look in this week's FWIW...

Want to know each candidate's path to the 2020 Democratic nomination? Look at where they're spending time + resources.

Donald Trump's investments in Florida could be a sign of much bigger problems for Democrats. Plus, check out our brand new FWIW Digital Dashboard!

We know who raised the most money in the 2020 race - but where's all that money going? And how is digital playing a part?

18 Democrats (and counting) are in the race for president. We break down the benefits of taking on a bid for the highest office.

If it's the end of the quarter, that means you probably got dozens of emails in your inbox from campaigns asking you to donate. This week, we broke down trends in the candidates' email programs and how it compared to their online spending last week. Check it out.

Democrats are still committed to learning more about the Mueller report, but did William Barr's letter do what it needed to turn the page?

With fundraising deadlines coming up in just over a week, 2020 Democrats are doing everything they can to show their fundraising strength in the first full quarter of the cycle. So we looked at the power of campaign merch and spoke with an expert about why campaign stores are no longer just nice-to-haves for anyone running on the national stage. 

Was the Warren/Facebook controversy a ploy we all fell for? And what's it like to be a donor to every single 2020 campaign?

It's International Women's Day, so today we looked at how this year's historic Democratic presidential primary field is (or isn't 😬) celebrating Women's History Month.

Donald Trump's campaign crossed the $4.5 million mark in digital spending since the 2018 midterms. And we broke down digital spending in two local elections this week.

How did Bernie Sanders crush the Democratic primary field in small-dollar donations on the first day of his presidential campaign? Well, if you look closely, it's not that hard to figure out. So we did.

This week, we did a special Virginia-focused FWIW, where we looked at who's already investing in digital ads to influence the November 2019 elections - and how the controversies at the top of the ticket are (or aren't) playing into their strategies. Check it out and sign up for our new weekly FWIW Virginia newsletter.

This week, we looked at how Republicans and Democrats leveraged digital media to drive their message around the State of the Union.

Announcing a presidential bid looks a lot different today than it did the last time we had a crowded presidential field. This week, we looked at how candidates can leverage multi-faceted strategies online and offline to make a bigger splash.

The airwaves might be filled with the Roger Stone indictment and the government shutdown debate, but the 2020 Democratic field is focused on a different message. This week, we looked at how 2020 Democratic candidates are aligned on anti-PAC messaging, and how Republicans are going back to some of their old tricks. 

There are already seven (or eight) candidates who have officially entered the race for the Democratic nomination for president. We took a look at how they measure up in the early days. And stick around until the end, because we uncovered one Democrat playing the real long game. 

New year, new us. We're back from our much-needed holiday break, and today's issue is well worth the wait. While many of you may be preparing for tonight's primetime address, we've broken down how Donald Trump's campaign has been laying the groundwork for it online for days.

Over the past few weeks, we've focused FWIW on the slate of candidates on the left considering a bid for the Democratic nomination for president. But, as we all know, a smart campaign needs to know what it's up against. So for this edition, we dug deep into how Donald Trump's campaign is using multiple approaches to building its lists and campaign coffers in the final weeks of 2018 - and what that could mean given the Trump White House's tumultuous week.

They're forming exploratory committees. They're giving speeches in Iowa. And they're visiting diners and coffee shops in New Hampshire. It's not even 2019 and the 2020 campaign is already underway. So this week, we took a look at where the nearly-forty potential Democratic candidates stack up in terms of their current social followings, and who's already investing resources to expand their reach.

December is upon us, which means the holiday season is in full swing. This week, we took a look at how groups on both sides of the aisle are talking about the holidays - and how they're using the season to build lists, raise money and spread their messages.

We're back from our week off, and before we dive into the Ad Archive, we want to take a moment to thank you all for reading, sharing and tweeting FWIW. Our pre-Thanksgiving edition caused quite the stir - check it out here if you missed it.

It's not even December, but it already feels as though the 2020 presidential elections are well underway. While we don't have any insider knowledge (that we're willing to share), the Facebook ad archive is a great place to see what some of the more talked-about prospective candidates are interested in post-midterms. One word: names. And the apparent way to get them? Mueller.

We made it! Election Day 2018 is over, and only 726 days until the 2020 election. As many of you saw, this election cycle was a mixed bag for both parties. Democrats won back the House, literally changed the face of power by electing 100 women to Congress and made gains in state legislatures across the country, while Republicans kept their hold on the Senate (if not strengthened it - depending on how the recounts go).