GOP behind online. Here’s why.
The Washington Post reports that the Republican Party is playing catch-up when it comes to online strategies. There really isn’t much argument about this from a factual perspective, so the only real question is why.
One reason for the disparity between the parties, political insiders say, is that the top Republican candidates are not exciting voters the way the Democratic front-runners are. Another is that it takes a certain level of technical skill and understanding to be an online strategist, and Republicans admit that “the pool of talent in the Democrats’ side is much bigger than ours.”But an underlying cause may be the nature of the Republican Party and its traditional discipline — the antithesis of the often chaotic, bottom-up, user-generated atmosphere of the Internet.
Here is my overly simplified reason for this, and it follows another institution’s failure to grasp the value of the web. The GOP’s values follow the modern era’s rules of order. It is very much the party of top-down thinking. While republicans complain about big government, the truth is they are the law and order party, the command-and-control group, the clique that needs to be in charge, with a tightly controlled organization that flows from the top.
This is a similar position of the evangelical church (see my post below), and this group has been noticeably absent from the cutting edge of the web as well. This is odd, because evangelicals have always been at the forefront of communications. Two of the first transponders on the first Satcom satellite went to Christian broadcasters, for example.
The reason these groups don’t like the web is that it’s not a mass medium. It’s much more bottom-up and grassroots, and the GOP doesn’t play well in such a postmodern cultural marketplace. Neither does the evangelical church, because God, the Father, is the ruler of their world. Pomos, as I’ve written before, much prefer the concept of God, the Holy Spirit.
In a similar way, the GOP only recognizes that which flows from the top. Late to the game? I’m not sure they even knew there was one.
(Thanks, Cory)
May 21st, 2007 at 9:52 am
“another institution’s failure to grasp the value of the web”
i’m trying to figure out to who the heck you refer.
don’t tell me… i’ll figure it out.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:37 am
[…] Some say the reason for this is somewhat ideological. The Republican Party values hierarchy and while the Democratic Party, always a disorganized and diverse lot, has seen these vices in the past become virtues in the digital age. […]
May 29th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Two alternative theories - on the grounds you might be over-thinking this:
1) Democrats have an edge in social media because of the natural edge in younger voters, just out of college. More interest - more proclivity. Conversely, there is less incentive and payoff for the GOP to spend a lot of resources going there, because its audience isn’t there yet.
2) Random chance. Two major parties, one is faster. Flip a coin.
Now - my prediction:
Big fight for the “heart and soul” of the GOP. Many dissatisfied Republicans waiting for a new Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. BIG bonus to tip the scales for the candidate who solidifies the young (
May 30th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I was early, by one day: http://pages.citebite.com/k1m7r8s9m3hpt