Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Obama Campaign's Secret Weapon: Geeks - Businessweek

Meanwhile, as the Republicans try to pick their next non-Romney of the month…

Obama’s advisers won’t divulge much more than that about how the operation works. “I’ll be happy to discuss what we’re doing after we do it,” says David Axelrod, Obama’s chief political strategist. Axelrod reveals only enough to taunt his Republican counterparts. “The things we did in 2008 in many ways were prehistoric by contemporary standards,” he says. “There’s a lot you can do in the way of more finely targeting voters so they’re getting information that’s useful to them.”

Obama’s GOP rivals have taken notice. “Right now, if you want to call this the ‘data arms race,’ clearly Democrats are ahead,” says Alex Gage, chief executive officer of TargetPoint Consulting, who worked on voter targeting for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection. “Republicans realize they have to catch up, and I’m reasonably confident they will. Will they surpass them? No.”

The Obama Campaign's Secret Weapon: Geeks - Businessweek

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