It's all on the line as the midterms approach

As the pressure grows we need to be thinking ahead to information flow in the run-up to the midterm election. Time to test a long held vision I've had to help.

Today’s a good day, it’s the first time I’ve been able to sit with a cuppa and gather my thoughts to share my observations properly for a few weeks, given I have been focused on coding the framework for the Political Truth Portal project, which has dominated my time recently; time has been in short supply. However, I’m pleased to report I’m on the downslope now as I pull together all the threads to deliver a vision that’s been on my mind for a long time.

As this is my first day back to daily writing, I hope you will indulge me as I share my thoughts and vision for this and the 2028 election cycle with you. This article will serve as the reference for the project, which I will direct people to moving forward. I’m not selling a book or promoting a business; I’m giving away a vision based on years of understanding geopolitics and witnessing the decline of democracy and the rule of law in America. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do or how to vote; I’m here to help share the facts and deliver thinking that reflects my view on the world. Of course, there are those who would describe my work as far-left propaganda. All I would say to that is, when truth becomes the enemy and is described in that manner, I know I’m doing something right.

The Political Truth Portal is about having the strength and ambition to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’ On the face of it, social media should have democratised political engagement; it should have provided a space for respectful debate, producing a political landscape better equipped to deliver a more equitable society. Instead, it has become a weapon of political war, and this is how we find ourselves in this moment of peril.

Image - Krista Kennell / Stone / Catwalker / Shutterstock / The Atlantic

It is safe to say that the sole focus of the Trump regime is to bury the truth under a mountain of disinformation and misdirection. He has declared war on mainstream media, which has become increasingly vulnerable to political influence over the decades. The regime has created an environment that has led the gullible to distrust their own eyes. It’s difficult to overestimate the impact of a shaped political narrative built on deliberate deception. The subjugation of the social media ecosystem has become the greatest threat not only to America but also to the wider world. It has become the primary vehicle for selling a far-right agenda, and, sadly, the counterargument is becoming lost in the chaos.

There is a long-held belief that Democratic messaging is not fit for purpose, and sadly, the Democratic establishment has done nothing to dispel that assumption. Let me be clear: there are some phenomenally talented left-leaning writers who create fantastic messaging that simply does not see the light of day because there is no effective distribution network to amplify it. Political messaging is a very specialist area, and I hate to say it, but all too often Democrats overthink. If you look at MAGA messaging, it is pure raw red meat designed to fire up the base, but above all, it attracts a tsunami of rage postings from the left, which provides FREE amplification for MAGA talking points.

There is a strategic naivety that has plagued Democratic messaging for as long as I can remember. You will notice that when Republicans want to amplify a talking point, every single one of them sings from the same hymn sheet for the day, not just Washington legislators and staff, but right-wing talking heads and social media influencers. It’s the repetitive nature of the message that allows it to resonate. There are no longer any rules of engagement, so nothing is off the table when it comes to outrageous false claims. The message is mainlined to the minds of their base, while the left rage posts the same message, amplifying the claims further in a vain attempt to counter the false narrative. As a result, Democrats simply commit unwitting acts of messaging self-harm, as their outrage won’t allow them not to take the bait.

I thought today I might explain the thinking behind what I’m doing, so people might gain a better understanding of the vision I have for what I hope will become a go-to resource for people who are interested in the truth about what’s happening in the world, who are time-poor and are looking to cut through the tsunami of disinformation to quickly find the facts. It’s all about providing fast access to fact-checked information.

It’s about providing a concierge service to support those seeking facts, not political dogma. I thought long and hard before choosing to self-finance this project, and I know it was the right decision. I didn’t want to take sponsorship money that so often comes with a political agenda. Those familiar with my work will know that I write without fear or favour. My work is based on a set of values that represents a ‘people first’ agenda. Nobody reads what I write, expecting ‘balance’ because mine is a set of unashamed values based on fairness, moral decency, and a belief in social justice. I am not here to platform hate as a balance to my arguments; people can find right-wing, divisive talking points around every corner.

The project is not about reinventing the wheel; it’s about using the Internet to do what it does best: share information and provide tools that enable people to make informed decisions. There are no guarantees when it comes to success, so the only thing I’m promising is that it will provide an information concierge service to better inform, with the aim of entertaining too, because all work and no play is good for no man.

One thing I’ve become good at over the years is creating easy-to-use interfaces, and that has been foremost in my mind as I created the information framework for the project. Users will be able to keyword-search as normal, but also filter information by issue and policy. It will deliver written content in both short and long form, as well as a library of fully attributed video content. It will host The Political Truth Podcast as well as a weekly video news magazine called The Political Truth. It’s about creating a comprehensive people-focused resource, FREE at the point of delivery to every user. I hope the video at the top of this piece demonstrates the level of polished professionalism I’m bringing to the project.

There is no fiscal imperative driving this, as baseline infrastructure costs, including media production, are covered. There’s no external financing driving the agenda; the only external funding comes from my reinvestment of paid Substack subscription revenue and from other generous supporters who have provided small-dollar donations towards the ongoing development of the project. The only way I believe the project can succeed is if the service can be delivered without the pressure to send out begging emails every week to survive. I have said all along that nobody should have to pay to read the truth about politics, and this philosophy will remain at the heart of everything I do. This isn’t about donating to a candidate or a party; this is about investing in the truth at a time when it’s under daily attack.

Information sharing is not revolutionary; the key is in the ease of access to that information and what you can do with it once located. On that front, you’ll see some real innovation. I want people not just to be able to find information, but to leverage what they find for their own writing and messaging. I want people to be able to visit breakout areas on the site for tips on topics such as better messaging and research. I want advocacy organisations to be able to host webinars on campaigning and ground-game best practices events. One central focus of the site will be an online theatre that hosts live events and allows new political talent to present their vision for a better tomorrow.

This is not about revolution in the traditional sense, but rather about advancing technological innovation to deliver a new information experience that educates and enables better-informed decision-making when casting a ballot. It’s about removing barriers to participation through a variety of media. Not everyone can spare the time to read a long, detailed analytical piece, but they are more than happy to watch a short visual summary. I want to introduce a ‘civics corner’ to provide civics education and information. The reason it’s called a ‘portal’ is that it best describes its role as a central focus for politically, geographically, and socioeconomically fact-checked news. It’s also about directing you to the best journalism and work from documentary filmmakers, as well as content creators, and new writing talent.

The project is about creating a centre of excellence that uses technological innovation to provide an engaging space people will want to visit as part of their daily internet routine. The reason this has taken so long to bring to life was the requirement to build a complex, modular framework for the site that allows information elements to be added or removed without affecting site availability. It’s about being able to deploy innovative tools to enable, for example, that by entering the name of a legislator, a user can instantly pull up information on their donors, cross-referencing these donations against PACS and Super PACs, users will be able to focus not only on what donations are being provided, but also on how donations might be influencing the member's voting record.

Image - Getty Images

As far as AIPAC is concerned, we know that growing opposition to AIPAC donations is prompting it to use third parties to funnel its funding to members. I have designed a data engine to facilitate tracking of these links, ensuring full transparency around paid trips and similar activities. It’s well known that this regime has now utilised big data to develop a state surveillance system. What you need to understand is that this is based on the use of a mixture of private and public data sets to surveil Americans. Just as these data sets can be used for nefarious purposes, publicly available data on legislators can be used to provide transparency into their political activities as elected representatives.

The data engine for the site has been designed by me, calling on my extensive experience in data management and analysis. It’s built from the ground up, with a focus on political data management. The system has had to be designed to scale in order to meet demand. The aim is to maintain maximum availability while challenging the usual one-dimensional user experience on political information sites. I don’t want ot to be dull and sterile. It’s all about encouraging users to come back for more and to build trust and a sense of community. The development and expansion plans for the project have been meticulously planned to allow it to evolve slowly and organically. The only substantive risk is to me, given that I have funded the infrastructure and the development of the data model and front-end user experience.

In the interest of my sanity, I have already written that cost off, because there’s no point doing something like this unless you’re prepared to take the hit if it fails. The aim all along has been to use it as a proof of concept so it can be deployed in the real world, then grow and, hopefully, attract sustainable small-dollar donations to help cover the operating and new development costs. After a year of writing on Substack, I have a substantive body of work free at the point of delivery. I like to think of it as my interview for the job. My commitment to the cause has remained unrelenting, and I see this as an important Step forward.

As I said earlier, I have no intention of sending out begging emails to support this project; people get enough of those from a whole host of what some may see as competing interests. The Truth Matters community we have built together has become something very special to me because paid subscribers support the work I do and respect the need to keep the content free to all, which takes a special kind of support.

It’s important to note that there will be no trade-off between my writing and the launch and maintenance of the new project. Everything has been carefully mapped out. All the heavy lifting has been done, and I’m now on the down slope towards the soft launch. I’ll be hosting a webinar next week so I can answer any questions people might have face-to-face, by which time I should be in a position to announce the soft launch date following this week’s impact testing process.

The site will be rolled out gradually, so each module can be tested in a live environment before the next is rolled out. The aim is to use this midterm cycle to test and adjust the services, providing a fully tested and operational site by the summer. This will provide three to four months to operate as intended, leading up to the November elections. By the end of the midterms, we will know what works and what doesn’t, giving us a solid platform to run with in the 2028 cycle. It’s about a very structured approach to delivering a resource with trusted brand recognition, so it can be built on for the mission-critical 2028 cycle.

I’m more than aware that many think we won’t make it to November, let alone 2028, the way things are going. I appreciate that, but we can only deal with the cards we are dealt, and I can’t get hooked up on those concerns, or I’ll never get anything done. This is about moving forward with a plan within the parameters available. This is a model that, once fully proven, I want to make available certainly in the UK, and multilingual support has been built into the data engine to support its use in Europe too. Is this ambitious? It is, but trust me when I say this has been years in the making. I am fortunate to have all the relevant skill sets to keep the project lean and mean.

If you would like to become a stakeholder in the project, it’s as simple as becoming a paid subscriber to this Substack. Your subscription will then help towards the launch, maintenance, and ongoing development of the project. Given that a number of people reached out to ask if they could make a one-off donation to my efforts? I have set up a facility for that too. You can donate by clicking on this secure link. (This uses the Substack payment processing provider.)

Tomorrow I’ll be back to my normal writing. I’d like to thank you for your patience if you got this far. I appreciate you taking the time to indulge me. The next step is to roll it out, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to do so very soon. I’m looking forward to sharing the journey to launch with you.