President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign digitized its entire field operation within 24 hours after staffers were forced to work from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, sources told The Minnesota Sun.
The campaign held its fourth National Day of Action March 21 and contacted 1.4 million voters nationally in a single day – all done in virtual settings. The occasion marked the first time the campaign conducted 100 percent of its phone banking from the comfort of supporters’ own homes. The day of action brought the campaign’s total voter contacts for the cycle to almost nine million.
The president’s reelection campaign has moved to using online platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts to conduct trainings for volunteers. During a national week of training from March 13 to 19, the campaign conducted 1.7 million phone calls. At this point in the 2018 midterm elections, the campaign had completed a total of just 1.2 million phone calls.
Some of the success can be attributed to a tool called “TrumpTalk,” an online platform to help volunteers track and complete phone calls. The campaign said it had nearly 50,000 volunteers sign up to use TrumpTalk during its national week of training.
Despite social-distancing restrictions, the campaign activated 1,623 new volunteers during its National Day of Action. To date, the campaign has trained and activated 550,000 new volunteers.
The campaign has made more than 300,000 voter contacts this cycle in Minnesota and has held more than 200 trainings. During the week of training, volunteers in Minnesota made more than 100,000 voter contacts.
The coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to regular campaign activities, like rallies and door-knocking. Candidates up and down the ticket are now hosting virtual town halls, including Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, who experienced several technical difficulties during his first online town hall earlier this month.
This is part of the virtual town hall the Biden campaign wouldn't post
Garbled/cut out audio, blank screens, randomly going live to unsuspecting participants
A complete disaster pic.twitter.com/eLGgHyPm91
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) March 14, 2020
“The RNC’s ability to digitize it’s entire field operation within 24 hours is a testament to the strength of its permanent ground game,” said Republican National Committee Spokesperson Preya Samsundar. “While we continue to outmatch the Democrats in resources and fundraising, our ability to organize our army of volunteers no matter the situation will propel us to victory.”
– – –
Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Donald Trump” by Photo “Donald Trump” by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. CC BY 2.0. Background Photo “Trump Minnesota Rally” by Epoch Times. CC BY 2.0.
