The Washington Post’s Dan Balz highlighted the tension within the Republican Party surrounding presumed online and social media inadequacy this morning (“The GOP: Luddites or High-Tech”).
Former Ohio Congressman John Kasich voiced particular concern:
“I think Republicans need to learn to communicate with the tools of the 21 st century… The women in Iran have been more effective using Twitter than House Republicans have been getting their message out to the country. We need to embrace the modern tools of the 21 st century…. Let’s get with it with this stuff.”
But as the author noted – and as we have explored here before (see below) – the GOP is anything but falling behind Democrats online. In fact, by some measures it is well ahead. Both newly-elected Republican governors Chris Christie (NJ) and Bob McDonnell (VA) invested heavily in online and social – significantly more than their respective Democratic opponents – and saw clear electoral benefits.
The Obama campaign set the gold standard, but the GOP was savvy enough to play copy-cat. Mid-terms will stand as another telling chapter in this story.
- Republicans Tweet More Effectively Than Democrats
- Mud-Slinging Via Twitter
- Tweeting to Campaign Victory
- The Obama Online Standard
