# Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [November 3, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618 "2020-11-03T05:36:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2627

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/2627 "2020-11-05T22:47:35Z")

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> [@urbanredneck2](#):
>
> How about the whole “Walk-away” movement?

What “movement”? “#WalkAway” is fundamentally a [made-up astroturfing ploy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign) that only conservatives seem to be gullible enough to believe in.

> [@](#):
>
> The **WalkAway campaign** , also styled **#WalkAway** , is a [social-media campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social-media_campaign) that was launched ahead of the [United States 2018 mid-term elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_midterm_elections) by Brandon Straka, a hairstylist from New York City. […]
> 
> News sources have debated the extent to which WalkAway is an example of [astroturfing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing) rather than a genuine [grassroots movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassroots_lobbying). David A. Love of [CNN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN)condemned the campaign as “pure propaganda [and] a psychological operation.”[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign#cite_note-8) The website [Hamilton 68](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_68), which tracks [Russia’s interference on U.S. elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2020_United_States_elections), reported that WalkAway was “connected to Kremlin-linked Russian bots to manipulate voters into thinking the movement was more popular and active that it actually was.”[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign#cite_note-:1-9)
> 
> Abby Ohlheiser of _[The Washington Post](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post)_ claimed that “[t]here’s little actual evidence to suggest that #WalkAway represents a mass conversion of millions – or even thousands – of Democrats” and contrasted the broad appeal of true [viral videos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_video) with the “Conservative Internet viral” nature of the WalkAway video.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign#cite_note-:0-10) [ThinkProgress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkProgress)characterized the WalkAway campaign as “a grifting operation,” noting efforts by the organizers to sell dinner packages priced in the hundreds of dollars to march attendees.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign#cite_note-11) […]
> 
> Straka has stated that WalkAway does not receive major donations and that “everything is grassroots support from Americans who send us $5 or $100.”[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign#cite_note-:1-9) As of May 2020, the [Center for Responsive Politics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Responsive_Politics) reported that of the $20,104 donated to WalkAway in 2020, $7,521 were contributed by nine large ($200 or more) donors, of which Straka is one.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WalkAway_campaign#cite_note-14)[_[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NOTRS)_ ]
> 
> WalkAway received a $10,000 donation from [Alex Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jones) and [InfoWars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InfoWars).

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