The New York Times obtained a confidential memo on Wednesday about the Alabama Senate race, circulated to Republican donors by allies of Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader. In it, an adviser to Mr. McConnell warns that conservative voters have turned against congressional Republicans.

The power of talk radio. In Alabama, we found that conservative primary voters receive a lot of political information from talk radio, far more than from online blogs like Breitbart. In focus groups, voters were keenly aware of the Freedom Caucus but had never heard of the Senate Conservatives Fund or other entities and personalities that are promoted online. Local radio hosts wield almost as much influence as national names like Hannity and Ingraham, and they are more receptive to cultivation. We worked hard to build relationships with a handful of local talk radio hosts who were open to our perspective and deployed some of our research. Rep. Brooks was ubiquitous on talk radio throughout the primary (he had once been a talk radio host himself), whereas both Moore and Strange seemed more wary of the medium. In an environment where Republican incumbents could be challenged from the right, talk radio must be a top priority for earned media outreach.