Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign is hiring hundreds of staffers to text their contacts about the candidate and to regularly post positive messages about the campaign on social media.
Each of the staffers, referred to as “deputy digital organizers,” will be paid $2,500 a month in exchange for working roughly 20 to 30 hours a week. The staffers must text all of their personal contacts about Bloomberg at least once a week, and to post on social media daily.
“The Fight for Equal Rights Has Been One of the Great Fights of Mike’s Life,” reads a suggested message prompt from campaign documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal. The message refers to Bloomberg’s support of same-sex marriage.
“We are meeting voters everywhere on any platform that they consume their news,” a campaign spokesperson told the Journal. “One of the most effective ways of reaching voters is by activating their friends and network to encourage them to support Mike for president.”
The campaign plans to hire around 500 “deputy digital organizers” in California and expand the effort nationwide if it proves successful.
The California Primary will take place on super Tuesday, March 3. Bloomberg, who entered the Democratic primary race late, is skipping the first four early state primaries and will only be on the ballot from super Tuesday onward. He will appear in a primary debate for the first time on Wednesday in Las Vegas, Nev., even though he is not on the ballot in Nevada.
Bloomberg has spent well over $300 million of his own multi-billion dollar fortune on his campaign, dwarfing expenses by other candidates.