Rand Paul's New Tech Guru Wants to Build a 'Crowdsourced Campaign'

[Brian4Liberty]

Rand Paul's New Tech Guru Wants to Build a 'Crowdsourced Campaign'
By Grace Wyler - January 7, 2015

It's hard to deny that 2014 was a very good year for the Republican Party. Two years after its 2012 train wreck, the GOP returns to Washington this week with an eight-seat majority in the Senate and a deep bench of contenders who want to take on Hillary Clinton in the next election. And while the party hasn't quite managed to shake its reputation as a political nursing home for jowly white dudes, Republicans managed to creep out of the tech Stone Age this fall, and finally started making dents in the Democrats' digital campaign juggernaut.

Vincent Harris isn't impressed. The 26-year-old Republican strategist, best known for putting Ted Cruz on the internet, has relentlessly criticized his party for their technological backwardness, telling any reporter who calls that the GOP's digital operations are second-rate and that the party's claims of progress are "a lot of talk." Begrudgingly, other Republicans have started to listen, bringing Harris on to translate the 21st century for high-profile conservative campaigns.

This fall, Harris announced that he is ditching Cruz to join Rand Paul's political team, as both Senators gear up for likely presidential runs in 2016. We caught up with him recently to talk about the new gig, and how he thinks the GOP can step up its digital game this year.

VICE: Tell me about the new job. What exactly are you going to be doing for Senator Paul?

Vincent Harris: I've always been a big fan of Senator Paul, since he first came on to the scene in 2010. I'm a big admirer of him as a thought leader in the party, and nationally on everything from issues of security and privacy to expanding the party across age groups, across demographics. I'm also just a big fan of where he puts the Constitution and the powers of the federal government.

So how it really came about: I mean, I've known some of his staff. You know, I had a conversation with them and they offered me a big seat at the table, and I really believe that digital is going to play a very important role in Senator Paul's organization. And I believe that Senator Paul wants to continue to innovate and reach people through different, new means and to run a campaign that is unlike any organization that's been run previously. Really integrating a proper digital operation throughout the entire organization—and leading with digital and with data.

VICE: Obviously the Obama campaign in 2012 was very successful in bringing in people from Google and other major tech companies to run their digital operations. Is that something you're trying to do?

Look, these are great questions, and I want to answer them as much as I can without showing all my cards. But I will say this: I know that this organization is going to not just look to existing political technology. It's going to look to the market—to what the best technology is independent of the partisan affiliation associated with that technology.

And this organization is going to have input— big input at a big level, from people that want to help, in Austin, in Silicon Valley. We're going to throw the book out on how a tech [campaign] operation has been run previously. I don't want to just run the same operation that, say, President Obama's campaign ran. I want to run a more unique 2016-level operation. Something that was run four years ago is obsolete now.
...
VICE: So what exactly does your 2016 digital operation look like?

I think something that I'm willing to discuss now is that I want this organization—I'm just going to say "organization" for the time being—I want this organization to be not just simply Rand Paul talking at his supporters, I want this to be a crowdsourced campaign. A crowdsourced organization. I think that is one way you're going to see things going differently. It is my vision to build a platform, and to build an organization, that can be manipulated by the developer community.

All of this is going to be rolled out over the next few months, so I don't wanna get ahead of myself. But I can tell you, there is not anything that we are going to be pitched that we are going to turn away. There is not any idea from our supporters, or from the tech community in Austin or Silicon Valley, that isn't going to be listened to.

Look, I don't know everything, right? Not any one person in our organization knows everything. And that's not how you innovate—thinking you know everything and just running a closed-circle operation. That's not what this is going to be. I want to hear from the tech community and we're going to build an infrastructure where, if we're doing something wrong, our supporters in the community are going to be helping us and giving input.

I think this is a mistake that large presidential campaigns in the past have made. First off, they've only looked to the insular, political tech community. And then, as the organizations have grown, they haven't listened. They haven't listened to what's new in the Space Race and that has led to a stifling of how campaigns and how political operations have been run. One thing that I'm making certain of is that I don't wanna talk to the same three people that have pitched and worked in the political space. I wanna talk to new people and different people. To people that are helping Target, and are helping Home Depot, and that are helping McDonald's. The people that have helped Old Spice online. That's who I wanna talk to.
...
More:
http://www.vice.com/read/rand-paul-t...d-campaign-107

[Matt Collins]

Rand's digital media guy gave a recent interview about the potential Presidential campaign:

http://www.vice.com/read/rand-paul-t...d-campaign-107

I can tell you, there is not anything that we are going to be pitched that we are going to turn away. There is not any idea from our supporters, or from the tech community in Austin or Silicon Valley, that isn't going to be listened to....

Not any one person in our organization knows everything. And that's not how you innovate—thinking you know everything and just running a closed-circle operation. That's not what this is going to be. I want to hear from the tech community and we're going to build an infrastructure where, if we're doing something wrong, our supporters in the community are going to be helping us and giving input.

[francisco]

Rand Paul's New Tech Guru Wants to Build a 'Crowdsourced Campaign'
By Grace Wyler - January 7, 2015

It's hard to deny that 2014 was a very good year for the Republican Party. Two years after its 2012 train wreck, the GOP returns to Washington this week with an eight-seat majority in the Senate and a deep bench of contenders who want to take on Hillary Clinton in the next election. And while the party hasn't quite managed to shake its reputation as a political nursing home for jowly white dudes, Republicans managed to creep out of the tech Stone Age this fall, and finally started making dents in the Democrats' digital campaign juggernaut.

Vincent Harris isn't impressed. The 26-year-old Republican strategist, best known for putting Ted Cruz on the internet, has relentlessly criticized his party for their technological backwardness, telling any reporter who calls that the GOP's digital operations are second-rate and that the party's claims of progress are "a lot of talk." Begrudgingly, other Republicans have started to listen, bringing Harris on to translate the 21st century for high-profile conservative campaigns.

This fall, Harris announced that he is ditching Cruz to join Rand Paul's political team, as both Senators gear up for likely presidential runs in 2016. We caught up with him recently to talk about the new gig, and how he thinks the GOP can step up its digital game this year.

VICE: Tell me about the new job. What exactly are you going to be doing for Senator Paul?

Vincent Harris: I've always been a big fan of Senator Paul, since he first came on to the scene in 2010. I'm a big admirer of him as a thought leader in the party, and nationally on everything from issues of security and privacy to expanding the party across age groups, across demographics. I'm also just a big fan of where he puts the Constitution and the powers of the federal government.

So how it really came about: I mean, I've known some of his staff. You know, I had a conversation with them and they offered me a big seat at the table, and I really believe that digital is going to play a very important role in Senator Paul's organization. And I believe that Senator Paul wants to continue to innovate and reach people through different, new means and to run a campaign that is unlike any organization that's been run previously. Really integrating a proper digital operation throughout the entire organization—and leading with digital and with data.

VICE: Obviously the Obama campaign in 2012 was very successful in bringing in people from Google and other major tech companies to run their digital operations. Is that something you're trying to do?

Look, these are great questions, and I want to answer them as much as I can without showing all my cards. But I will say this: I know that this organization is going to not just look to existing political technology. It's going to look to the market—to what the best technology is independent of the partisan affiliation associated with that technology.

And this organization is going to have input— big input at a big level, from people that want to help, in Austin, in Silicon Valley. We're going to throw the book out on how a tech [campaign] operation has been run previously. I don't want to just run the same operation that, say, President Obama's campaign ran. I want to run a more unique 2016-level operation. Something that was run four years ago is obsolete now.
...
VICE: So what exactly does your 2016 digital operation look like?

I think something that I'm willing to discuss now is that I want this organization—I'm just going to say "organization" for the time being—I want this organization to be not just simply Rand Paul talking at his supporters, I want this to be a crowdsourced campaign. A crowdsourced organization. I think that is one way you're going to see things going differently. It is my vision to build a platform, and to build an organization, that can be manipulated by the developer community.

All of this is going to be rolled out over the next few months, so I don't wanna get ahead of myself. But I can tell you, there is not anything that we are going to be pitched that we are going to turn away. There is not any idea from our supporters, or from the tech community in Austin or Silicon Valley, that isn't going to be listened to.

Look, I don't know everything, right? Not any one person in our organization knows everything. And that's not how you innovate—thinking you know everything and just running a closed-circle operation. That's not what this is going to be. I want to hear from the tech community and we're going to build an infrastructure where, if we're doing something wrong, our supporters in the community are going to be helping us and giving input.

I think this is a mistake that large presidential campaigns in the past have made. First off, they've only looked to the insular, political tech community. And then, as the organizations have grown, they haven't listened. They haven't listened to what's new in the Space Race and that has led to a stifling of how campaigns and how political operations have been run. One thing that I'm making certain of is that I don't wanna talk to the same three people that have pitched and worked in the political space. I wanna talk to new people and different people. To people that are helping Target, and are helping Home Depot, and that are helping McDonald's. The people that have helped Old Spice online. That's who I wanna talk to.
...
More:
http://www.vice.com/read/rand-paul-t...d-campaign-107

Shout this from the Rooftops!!

[anaconda]

So I still have no idea what this enhanced "digital" campaign will look like, or involve from "supporters." Not much content in the article.

[FriedChicken]

yeah I'm still clueless - but still looking forward to it.

[newbitech]

For starters, they are intelligently using google ad words to place ads for searches for other potential republics nominations candidates. Check out the guys twitter page. He explains it.

So far I like it. Shows foresight and I definitely like the idea that he is going to be relying more on reaching deep support from the web instead of just relying on mailers. I think combining both approaches is a solid use of donation funds and diversification.

I think he will use his budget well. I will donate just to see what he does with it.

[Bergie Bergeron]

So I still have no idea what this enhanced "digital" campaign will look like, or involve from "supporters." Not much content in the article.

Keeping the other candidates in the dark for now is fine by me.

[tennman]

Yes, keep them in the dark. We don't have to know their strategy yet. I have my own to share Rand Paul and the message of simply getting the government off of our backs.

[acptulsa]

Rand's digital media guy gave a recent interview about the potential Presidential campaign:

http://www.vice.com/read/rand-paul-t...d-campaign-107

Stop googling other news releases about the guy and take some time to listen to him.

Look, I don't know everything, right? Not any one person in our organization knows everything. And that's not how you innovate—thinking you know everything and just running a closed-circle operation. That's not what this is going to be. I want to hear from the tech community and we're going to build an infrastructure where, if we're doing something wrong, our supporters in the community are going to be helping us and giving input.

I think this is a mistake that large presidential campaigns in the past have made. First off, they've only looked to the insular, political tech community. And then, as the organizations have grown, they haven't listened. They haven't listened to what's new in the Space Race and that has led to a stifling of how campaigns and how political operations have been run. One thing that I'm making certain of is that I don't wanna talk to the same three people that have pitched and worked in the political space. I wanna talk to new people and different people.

Calm your hyper ass down and learn why we could all benefit from improving our adaptability.

[Natural Citizen]

Well. The nuts and bolts of the real problem is that some folks in the business of short selling political propaganda are coming around to the idea that they are dealing with an entirely different demographic. An educated demographic. One that has largely weaned itself from legacy media and the like. The old guard is losing the information battle. Now, how they choose to go about addressing it should prove to be interesting.

Do they simply try to fine tune a stream lined engine for the same old propaganda or are they actually going to try to compete with the platforms that actually question a little more and cater to the intelligence of their audience as opposed to just tinkering with them?

Really, there is a larger discussion to be had here. Not so much about this campaign but just political communication as a whole.

Here is a question. How does a person or idea make itself look better by comparison if it simply isn't willing or isn't capable of competing with the same cards? I mean, you have a growing information culture just hammering western media and its political establishment and making them look absolutely silly just because by actually reporting or discussing the real and genuine issues, they end up making them looking either tyrannical or incompetent or just plain disingenuous. Over time, they (meaning the propaganda machine) have become ineffectual just because they didn’t have any real competition. The fact is that they were all equal opportunists in the bull$#@! department. And so they fell behind. Gonna have to get real if they want to leave a mark. But are they willing to get real? May sting a bit.

Again, I'm referencing the larger discussion here. Not so much this specific...oh...venture? Is that the word? What I think we'll be seeing more of in the future is an effort to make the political propaganda machine more sophisticated without committing to doing anything whatsoever to address the systemic problems that exist within it in any substantive way. And, again, I'm kind of going beyond this particular venture with regard to the topic itself. I'm talking about the larger, very real, phenomenon that we are seeing evolve with regard to the flow of information. The infowar...

With all of that said, we'd have to be naive fools to not see that the political machine that guides the GOP needs Rand Paul in a major way. And, of course, he hasn't said if he's seeking the Oval Office either. The GOP needs what is perceived to be a demographic of people who may or may not choose the GOP because of the Paul name/principles. But the4se, largely, are educated people with a fair perception of what surmises a relevant issue and what does not. And so I think it is predictable that he would be the vehicle used or "manipulated", as Harris says, in order to try to gain that support. Except, like I said, that demograph is largely informed. So, will an effort to try make the political propaganda machine more "sophisticated" without committing to doing anything whatsoever to address the systemic problems that exist within it in any substantive way work with them? I don't think so. But that is just my thought on it. Take from it what one wishes.

[Matt Collins]

yeah I'm still clueless - but still looking forward to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing

[Natural Citizen]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing

What do you say about this part, Matt?

I want this to be a crowdsourced campaign. A crowdsourced organization. I'm just going to say "organization" for the time being...It is my vision to build a platform, and to build an organization, that can be manipulated by the developer community. - Harris

In context, with what I'd previously added here, that is.

[philipped]

Well. The nuts and bolts of the real problem is that some folks in the business of short selling political propaganda are coming around to the idea that they are dealing with an entirely different demographic. An educated demographic. One that has largely weaned itself from legacy media and the like. The old guard is losing the information battle. Now, how they choose to go about addressing it should prove to be interesting.

Do they simply try to fine tune a stream lined engine for the same old propaganda or are they actually going to try to compete with the platforms that actually question a little more and cater to the intelligence of their audience as opposed to just tinkering with them?

Really, there is a larger discussion to be had here. Not so much about this campaign but just political communication as a whole.

Here is a question. How does a person or idea make itself look better by comparison if it simply isn't willing or isn't capable of competing with the same cards? I mean, you have a growing information culture just hammering western media and its political establishment and making them look absolutely silly just because by actually reporting or discussing the real and genuine issues, they end up making them looking either tyrannical or incompetent or just plain disingenuous. Over time, they (meaning the propaganda machine) have become ineffectual just because they didn’t have any real competition. The fact is that they were all equal opportunists in the bull$#@! department. And so they fell behind. Gonna have to get real if they want to leave a mark. But are they willing to get real? May sting a bit.

Again, I'm referencing the larger discussion here. Not so much this specific...oh...venture? Is that the word? What I think we'll be seeing more of in the future is an effort to make the political propaganda machine more sophisticated without committing to doing anything whatsoever to address the systemic problems that exist within it in any substantive way. And, again, I'm kind of going beyond this particular venture with regard to the topic itself. I'm talking about the larger, very real, phenomenon that we are seeing evolve with regard to the flow of information. The infowar...

With all of that said, we'd have to be naive fools to not see that the political machine that guides the GOP needs Rand Paul in a major way. And, of course, he hasn't said if he's seeking the Oval Office either. The GOP needs what is perceived to be a demographic of people who may or may not choose the GOP because of the Paul name/principles. But the4se, largely, are educated people with a fair perception of what surmises a relevant issue and what does not. And so I think it is predictable that he would be the vehicle used or "manipulated", as Harris says, in order to try to gain that support. Except, like I said, that demograph is largely informed. So, will an effort to try make the political propaganda machine more "sophisticated" without committing to doing anything whatsoever to address the systemic problems that exist within it in any substantive way work with them? I don't think so. But that is just my thought on it. Take from it what one wishes.

This is the real topic right here...

[dannno]

So this means we can put 9/11 truth banners all over Rand Paul's official campaign website??