In the vernacular of political communications, a memo is essentially an attempt to nerd up a news release. Sometimes campaigns create memos meant to be leaked, increasing the chances that a reporter will pick up the story. Often, though, campaign memos serve as short-form white papers, aimed at impressing reporters with more detail than a normal campaign message without getting too complicated.
In the case of a memo released by President Trump’s reelection campaign on Sunday, the aim was something slightly different. In this case, the effort was to give a veneer of complexity and statistical rigor to a fundamentally weak set of claims.
Addressed to “Interested Parties,” the memo is titled, “Enthusiasm and Unity Update, Polling Methodology.” CONT.
Philip Bump, Washington Post