The W.C. Dispatch

The W.C. Dispatch

Bursting the Bubble

How the astroturf machine mistook rented applause and paid hashtags for real people

Walter Curt's avatar
Walter Curt
Aug 30, 2025
∙ Paid

POLITICS: By Walter Curt

Eight thousand dollars a month buys a lot of pretend. It buys a ring light, a script, a focus-grouped slogan, and just enough moral vanity to film it with a straight face. It buys “authenticity” the way a plastic plant buys “gardening.” That’s the point: everything about the modern Democratic machine is astroturf—manufactured buz…

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