Politico: “After Trump’s 2024 victory, Democrats are playing catch up by taking a page from the GOP playbook: Influencers are being deeply embedded into campaigns, from Florida to Alaska, and candidates are popping up on screen with them, on their turf. Developing an influencer program is now a common component of a campaign, mapped alongside traditional voter outreach methods like door-knocking and phone-banking.”“This approach isn’t without controversy. Within the Democratic Party there’s a raging discussion about the ethics of engaging boisterous online personalities — and sharp disagreement about whether influencers should be brought on board at all. No one can agree if they should be paid or remain volunteers or if they should be considered independent journalists or campaign surrogates or something else entirely.”