(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Faced with sluggish poll numbers, skyrocketing inflation and a torrent of violent crime that has rocked cities in Wisconsin, incumbent Democrat Gov. Tony Evers has resorted to paying for positive reviews of his extreme policies that are failing to gain traction with voters.
With far-leftist positions on everything from abortion to so-called criminal justice reform, and locked in a dead-even tilt with Republican challenger Tim Michels, Evers’ campaign is paying big bucks for fake reviews and glowing accolades, according to Wisconsin’s Lake Country Tribune.
The Tony Evers for Governor camp retained the services of People First, a business group that promotes far-Left causes and candidates, to recruit, coach and cajole potential social media influencers to write, post and promote positive reviews, fawning messages and rapturous endorsements of Evers.
The Evers campaign has shelled out at least $52,000 for the bogus cheerleading, reported the Tribune.
People First CEO Curtis Hougland boasts of having “pioneered ‘micro influencer’ campaigns in politics” for Planned Parenthood and Black Lives Matter, “after working at the front lines of mitigating Russian, ISIL, Alt-Right, and Anti-Vaxx propaganda.”
People First representatives cull voter lists to find suitable recruits, followed by innocuous emails asking for their help in electing candidates, in this case Evers.
“I wanted to introduce myself to you personally, and explain a bit about a project I am working on that I believe some of your talent might be a good fit for,” read a solicitation email obtained by the Tribune.
“We are currently offering $2,000+ for a single social media post by qualified creators,” the offer enticed, claiming participants would be part of “political advocacy work online for the causes and candidates they care about.”
After setting the hook, People First recruiters would proceed to detail exactly what issues, candidates and causes the so-called “political advocacy” would be expected to advocate in order to get paid.
“This is a unique opportunity for creators based in Wisconsin who would like to make a difference in an important election,” the email solicitation continued.
If the offer was accepted, a People First “lead digital relational organizer” would collaborate with contributors to tailor the posts to fit the Evers campaign mold.
“This collaboration step is their opportunity to tweak your idea and give it the works,” explained one reporter who participated in the process. “Once they approve the post and deem it honorable enough for the Governor, you’ll be able to share it online and ultimately get paid for your participation.”
The more social media followers that “qualified creators” have, the bigger the paycheck.
“They refer to paying people thousands of dollars for fake support as ‘political advocacy work,’” the Tribune wrote. “You don’t have to care about Gov. Evers or his policies; you simply need to have a social media page and be willing to play a game of Simon says.”
Evers will likely need as many Simon gamers as he can afford after his last debate against Michels.
.@michelsforgov: “The Evers-Barnes administration made a pledge…to cut in half the prison population. They released over a thousand convicted felons — they’ve got about 10,000 more to go.”
“300 are convicted murders, attempted murderers. 44 are child rapists.” #WBADebate pic.twitter.com/lWTKJPmLyH
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 15, 2022
