Republicans are lagging behind Democrats in the technology race because of “culture,” according to Ned Ryun, a GOP consultant.
Republicans have been ridiculed for their recent attempts to foster a start-up culture inside the national committee. Ryun, founder of Voter Gravity, sounded disappointed with the efforts.
“Our biggest challenge is cultural change,” Ryun said Thursday at C&E’s CampaignTech East conference in Washington, D.C. “I think it’s more of a cultural shift that needs to take place.”
The cultural shift that saw Democrats focus on data analytics and mobile advertising was fueled, in part, by money, said Ryun, who argued the strategic decisions in 2012 that saw the Obama camp spend millions on mobile were made because of commissions.
Last cycle, the Obama camp spent some $52 million on digital advertising, mainly with Bully Pulpit Interactive, while Mitt Romney’s camp dropped $26 million — a 251-percent increase over the total spent 2008.
“People spend money where they’re incentivized to spend money,” said Ryun.