Crooked had a journalist discovering this same thing on the other day. They finally noticed bot-farms are cheap and easy, only took a decade. https://crooked.com/podcast/is-social-media-hype-even-real/

removepaywall

(Swalwell campaign worker Alf) LaMont said he was “doomscrolling” that same night (April 10 following news reports about the allegations against Swalwell) when he saw an “organic, random” push for Becerra on Threads and other social media sites. LaMont said he immediately called Becerra’s campaign team and signed up to work for him.

(Carrie) Webster, the Long Beach content creator, also noticed the online buzz about Becerra.

“People were saying, ‘Let’s print out yard signs, T-shirts,’” Webster said. “Or someone would say, ‘I’m going to start Gen X for Becerra,’ or ‘I’m going to start Millennials for Becerra.’”

The push was so noticeable that Steyer’s campaign hired an intelligence agency with ties to a major Israeli firm to study the trend.

The agency’s report found about 3,000 fake accounts that amplified Becerra across social media platforms X, Facebook and Instagram while also criticizing Steyer, according to Steyer’s team. In all, the fake accounts generated 1.3 million views and 42,000 engagements, the report stated.

Steyer spokesperson Kevin Liao alleged a coordinated network from Becerra’s team or his supporters. Becerra’s campaign denied any role and dismissed the influence of the fake accounts.

Establishment and Corruption, the two are always hand in hand

Hogs eating up the slop.

The danger is that with only two candidates, the GOP could get the first and second highest votes on the primary, making a GOP governor a certainly (the November ballot would only have GOP candidates on it). I'm glad someone pulled ahead.

Tangential, but I have a strong suspicion Andy Beshear is using something similar.

I voted for him because he was the least shit. I would never vote for a billionaire or a MAGAt.

To be perfectly honest, I’m more than a little frustrated that Becerra and Steyer are the front runners. Becerra seems scummier and scummier the more I hear about him. And Steyer is, you know, a billionaire.