Podcasts, ‘The View’ and Howard Stern: How Harris and Trump are ‘microtargeting’ voters

The viewers of “The View” talk show and the listeners of Howard Stern’s satellite radio program couldn’t be more different: older women who watch daytime television for the former versus young and middle-aged white men who have long constituted the fervent followers of the once-raunchy stylings of the latter.

Yet within the span of a couple of hours Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris traveled between their studios in Manhattan to sit down for lengthy interviews, an odd juxtaposition of a television show initially viewed as a ladies-who-lunch klatch and a radio host who became famous because of pornographic, misogynistic and at times racist diatribes that led to millions of dollars in indecency fines from the federal government.

Historically, serious political candidates would never have appeared on either; President Obama was mocked by fellow Democrats for being the first sitting president to sit for an interview on “The View.”

But both programs, which have millions of followers, have evolved: “The View” is one of the most popular stops for presidential candidates of both parties, and Stern has transformed into a therapy-touting, inquisitive interviewer. And both represent a bipartisan strategy as candidates of both parties including former President Trump court voters through the exponentially growing network of broadcast, radio, podcast and social media venues where voters who aren’t MSNBC or Fox News junkies get their news.

Bill Burton, a national spokesperson for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign who worked on his communications team during his first term in the White House, said “the landscape has completely changed” since he started working in politics a quarter-century ago.

“Once the most obvious ways to communicate with voters was through political reporters,” he said. “That has shifted to getting a better understanding of who voters are, where they’re getting their information and communicating with them where they’re getting their information.”

The heightened focus on nontraditional media is the latest iteration of microtargeting, efforts by campaigns to reach specific blocs of voters. One of the most effective efforts occurred during President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign when strategists used consumer data, such as which magazines voters received or the cars they bought, to surgically target Republican voters in Democratic precincts in states such as Ohio.

“Campaigns are no longer a top-down approach to messaging. Oftentimes, it’s a very customized bottom-up approach,” said Kevin Madden, a GOP strategist who worked on Bush’s 2004 reelection bid as well as Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns. “Before 2004, campaigns had 30-second ads targeted at the general population of people watching the news at 6:30 and across cable news. Now … you have this almost omnipresent approach communicating through all these channels based on what you know about their issues and what you know about peer sets.”

Recalling those efforts two decades ago, Madden said: “If you drive a truck and drink Budweiser, you’re one of our voters. If you drive a Grand Cherokee and drink Heineken, you may be a swing voters. Based on consumer habits, we know where to target you with some of our messaging, whether it’s peer-to-peer communication or through Field &Stream magazine.”

“Now, it’s morphed into a more comprehensive understanding of electorate,” said Madden, now a senior partner at a Washington-based global strategic communications group. “A couple cycles ago, it was sort of like painting by numbers. Now, it’s like pixilated digital images, and we just get more and more understanding of the electorate and mood shifts and what motivates them.”

Trump has also appeared on nontraditional forums, such as the podcasts of the Nelk Boys and professional wrestler Logan Paul, both popular with young men. On Tuesday, the former president said on Ben Shapiro’s controversial podcast that President Biden and Harris ought to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment, which addresses the transfer of presidential power in cases of disability, resignation or removal from office or death.

Harris has also spoken to eyebrow-raising hosts, such as Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy,” an explicit podcast that boasts millions of listeners and is reminiscent of the early days of Stern’s radio show because of its frank sexual banter.

On Tuesday, Harris’ questioners on “The View” were friendly. The two Republicans sitting around the coffee table on set were notable Trump critics: Florida strategist Ana Navarro and former Trump White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin.

Harris used the appearance to roll out a proposal to offer long-term-care assistance for seniors through Medicare as she addressed the needs of the “sandwich” generation, people who are taking care of aging parents and children.

Shortly after her appearance on “The View,” Harris did an interview that lasted more than an hour with Stern, who initially was famous for having lascivious discussions on the airwaves.

As Stern has aged, he has evolved. Although he had a long-term relationship with Trump — they attended each other’s weddings — Stern said it disintegrated after he refused to introduce Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention because he was backing Hillary Clinton.

His interview of Harris was fawning. Stern urged his supporters to vote for her or, if they supported Trump, to not vote all together. They both repeated familiar talking points about the perils they believe the former president poses to democracy and the world.