Politics

Warren Campaign Rejects Outside Consultants, Only Produces Media In House

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Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has implemented a campaign policy of producing media in-house rather than hiring outside consultants.

Warren’s camp revealed to Politico that the campaign is producing its own media content internally. Campaigns typically hire outside firms to produce TV and digital content, but the Warren campaign has instead hired almost 300 staffers to do this work in-house, according to Politico.

Warren’s campaign does this for a reason, her chief campaign strategist, Joe Rospars, told Politico. Rospars is the former chief digital strategist for both of former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.

Warren sees consultant-run campaigns as another example of Washington corruption, the publication explains.

“Campaigns offer a chance not only to tell people what kind of president you’ll be, but to show it,” Rospars said.

“She’s running her campaign the way she intends to govern: willing to question existing power structures, making decisions grounded in evidence, and always fighting to build something more progressive, more inclusive, more joyful — and more democratic — than what came before.”

Politico reports that Warren’s campaign strategy – if it succeeds – “would create the most robust in-house media production and buying team in recent presidential politics.”

Warren’s campaign raised $19.1 million in the second quarter, despite the fact that she renounced campaign fundraisers and an outside polling firm.

“We raised more money than any other 100 percent grassroots-funded campaign. That’s big. You sent a message that Elizabeth’s vision for the future is worth fighting for. And you showed the rich and powerful that change is coming — sooner than they think,” Warren’s campaign said in an email to supporters Monday.

Veteran GOP consultant Mike Murphy warns that Warren’s in-house activity may come at a cost. Murphy said that the strategy may work, but “it is expensive to do it in-house.”

“Quality has cost,” Murphy told Politico. “I’d rather have Jim Margolis [who is working for Kamala Harris] on my side and pay some fees than ‘Larry’ in a cubicle in-house who is learning media buying.”

“Not having a pollster is just running on outsized hubris and ego, I think,” Murphy added. “But maybe they have an in-house pollster next to Larry.”