The strategic playbook for political communications is being remastered in the most unlikely of places: Donald Trump’s White House. No, not by the president during his highly rated, often bizarre media briefings. It’s Vice President Pence’s entrepreneurial press team and their shepherding of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s media blitz that is creating the gold standard. Impressively, they’re succeeding under the immense pressures of an unprecedented pandemic. Their execution seems centered around a few simple rules: Be authentic. Be bold. Be aggressive. Be everywhere.

The Fauci model is one that politicians from both sides should follow, both during and after the coronavirus pandemic. With a little innovation and a willingness to fail by venturing into unorthodox venues, enterprising public officials can overhaul the way they use the media to reach the American people to win elections. While you may think the circumstances make Fauci’s case unique, I can tell you with confidence that it is not. In many ways it’s a continuation of the “go everywhere” strategy I employed as Pete Buttigieg’s media adviser—one that was instrumental in his ascendance from unknown mayor to top-tier presidential candidate.

It’s 2020. Yet too many politicos are reliant on the 2004 playbook: cable-news hits and Sunday shows. Hitting traditional outlets is important, but in our current media reality those hits are only a few pieces of the larger puzzle. In a normal evening, just 6 million Americans tune in to prime-time cable news across the big three cable-news channels—CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. That means on any given night, 97-98% of Americans simply aren’t watching the shows that people in Washington are addicted to.

A good campaign knows what its end goal is: to convince as many people as possible to support its cause. Dr. Fauci wants to ensure that every single American hears the crucial “stay home” message. Because young people were disobeying that advice, the 79-year-old infectious disease guru met them where they were. He appeared on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take, hung out on Desus & Mero, and chatted with NBA superstar Steph Curry on Instagram Live. Those appearances gave him a direct connection with millions of millennials and Gen Zers—exactly the demographic we needed to reach in order to contain the novel coronavirus, according to experts. Members of that demographic aren’t watching much television news and are skeptical of top-down dictates, but they are likely to listen to figures of authority who receive a seal of approval from their authoritative media sources.

While Mayor Pete wasn’t battling a pandemic like Dr. Fauci, he shared the belief that we need to meet Americans where they are. He made plenty of MSNBC and CNN appearances, but he made sure to hit Fox News too. He spoke on Pod Save America and Preet Bharara’s podcast but also called into the Hugh Hewitt Show. Literally moments before a debate, he did an irreverent interview with Barstool Sports’ PFT Commenter that racked up over a million views across platforms, among an audience that likely wouldn’t have heard of him otherwise. He talked with The Athletic and TMZ. He reached an audience of teenagers and 20-somethings that surpassed the total viewers of any cable-news show by doing an interview with Peter Hamby—a Vanity Fair contributor—on Snapchat’s Good Luck America. His willingness to go bold allowed him to overcome the resistance among traditional gatekeepers who didn’t take his candidacy seriously.

Most important, Pete kept his message the same. Even people who disagreed with him found his authenticity compelling. We’ve seen a similar response to Dr. Fauci’s facts-first approach from media hosts at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Hosting Fauci within days of each other, both MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough—a frequent Trump critic—and Fox News’s Sean Hannity—a Trump sycophant—praised Fauci during their interviews, with Scarborough offering a fulsome thank-you to Dr. Fauci for his service to America and Hannity calling him “a voice of reason.”