Transforming the Art of Political Communication Part II

Earlier this week, I wrote about how Barack Obama has, through his most recent presidential campaign, transformed the art of political communication. Much like JFK in 1960, Obama was able to successfully use the internet via social networking and other means, to galvanize his core constituency to promote talking points, his views on issues and raise money. Now that he's president, he will be able to do this from the White House.

But what about Republicans? Or for that matter, what about third party options? Do they have a way to combat this? Can they level the playing field? When you're stacking yourself up against a email list of 10 million, it could appear daunting. The GOP has long relied on grassroots operations to raise money and to get out the vote (GOTV). They were hugely successful in accomplishing this in the late '90's and the early part of this century. But for the most part they did not make any gains or make any movement, really, on the internet.

Now it would seem the GOP is trying to make headway. Some individuals realized after election day (actually, they'd probably tell you they saw it way before then) that something had to be done. Republican bloggers and other online activists started a website called "Rebuild the Party" with it's number one priority, over the next four years, being the internet.

Winning the technology war with the Democrats must be the RNC's number one priority in the next four years.

What's Wrong -- And How to Fix It

* Recruit 5 million new Republican online activists. Even a compelling message won't go anywhere if we have no one to communicate it to. The next Chairman must undertake a crash program to grow the RNC's email file organically -- no spam and no "e-pending" from voter files. This will likely require a two-pronged strategy -- 1) engaging grassroots Republicans directly in the fight against the Obama agenda, with creative grassroots actions that make Republicans want to stand together with members of their party, and 2) integrating e-mail signups into everything we do at the grassroots level, ensuring that everyone who goes to an event and or is contacted by a volunteer is given the opportunity to join our network.

This goal seems daunting, but it forces us to think creatively about creating the sharpest, most compelling messages that will make people want to join us by the millions. If Newt Gingrich and T. Boone Pickens could each build an army of 1.4 million activists around energy, and Barack Obama could recruit 3 million to receive his VP selection by text message, then we know this is possible. If anything, given where the Internet will be in 2 or 4 years, we are low-balling the potential to create a new Republican online army.

* Hold campaigns and local parties accountable. As important as it is that we invest in new technology at the national level, we must remember that the RNC's primary objective is to win races state by state and district by district, not build up its own brand.

To pursue this essential mission, individual campaigns must be held accountable for the number of emails they collect and the money they raise online. As much high-level attention must be paid to candidates' online strategy as with the number of voter contacts made into a particular district or if the right media strategist is working the race. We must end a sense of dependence on the RNC at all levels -- in which the RNC simply turns over its lists -- and set goals that the campaigns must find creative and aggressive ways to meet:

In target 2010 Congressional races, we recommend setting a standard of at least 5,000 in-district online activists recruited, and a minimum of $100,000 raised online.

In target 2010 Senate races, we recommend a standard of 7,500 in-district online activists recruited and $150,000 raised online for each Congressional district.

* A more open technology ecosystem. As tempting as it is to believe that there is a silver bullet to solve all our technology problems, this is very rarely the case. The technology gap will not be solved by funding multimillion dollar white elephants, but by unleashing free market competition among trusted entrepreneurs and volunteers who want to help the party. The RNC should open its technology ecosystem so that trusted partners can develop on top of GOP.com and Voter Vault. We must build a corps of outside technology volunteers who compete to write applications that actually improve party operations -- and invest in the best ones. We must look beyond conventional political approaches to the Web, learning from technology hubs like Silicon Valley, and being unafraid to be the first in politics to adopt the changes in technology that are revolutionizing the consumer market.

It's an aggressive yet realistic plan to move the party forward using technology as the backbone. Not to be outdone, though, Barack Obama, this week, will begin making his weekly radio addresses also available via Youtube. Now I've got to ask you: when was the last time you listened to a weekly presidential address on the radio? I never have and I've been involved in politics and campaigns in some fashion since high school. Obama is revolutionary. He's truly making the White House his own, his administration distinct, and whether he turns out to be a good president or a bad one, history will show that he communicated like no other American president has before. Usually if you're a good communicator, history shows you in a good light. This is the struggle for the GOP to get over. Will they do it? They're getting off to a good start but they are two to four years behind the curve. Fortunately for them, with the internet it's easy to catch up. What's difficult is keeping up with the innovations.