Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

.gop Helps Republicans up Their “Game”
Townhall.com ^ | March 23, 2014 | Matt Walter

Posted on 03/23/2014 11:54:40 AM PDT by Kaslin

Since Howard Dean’s 2004 primary campaign first showed us the potential of online organizing, the political world has been taken over by technology designed to spread messages and organize supporters. This transformation has caused technology to go from a side-show within normal campaign operations to a mainstay of any operation worth its salt. The Obama reelection campaign, the gold standard of technology in politics, raised an astonishing $504 million through digitally generated donations. It also showed Republicans that our data and digital “game” needed improvement.

In 2011, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) saw a unique opportunity to secure a key tool. Without fanfare or publicity, we sought, and obtained, the new web ending .gop. By getting .gop, we not only got a desirable (short) web ending, but also one that was instantly identifiable with our Party. In doing so we became the only political party worldwide to own and run its own web ending.

The decision to create hundreds of new web endings created a land rush the likes of which the Internet has never seen. The creation of new web endings is like the opening of more beachfront property or the paving of hundreds of new Fifth Avenues. The world’s most innovative companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, Nike and others have taken to this opening with considerable zeal.

These companies, like the Republican Party, see the tremendous value in owning and running their own web ending. Simplicity and organization are two major benefits – with campaigns and candidates struggling to find clear, obvious domains under .com, the opening of .gop provides space and a stamp of legitimacy. Party operations will all have a central home through the use of sites like volunteer.gop, register.gop and organize.gop. Innovators, pioneers and entrepreneurs will be drawn to this new platform to create the next generation of political sites and campaign tools.

Alongside official efforts, .gop will be dominated by grassroots conservatives and will be open to all points of view within our Party. .gop will be an open and organic space reflective of a party united in opposition to the Left’s agenda but with different ideas of our own. Grassroots activists, bloggers, interest groups and all other self-identifying Republicans will make their home on .gop. It will be the new neighborhood for Republicans online.

Other benefits include increased security from hackers, a problem major corporations and Presidential campaigns are constantly battling. Search engines are set to make the new web endings a factor in their algorithms putting those who own sites with a web ending that is relative to the search term higher in search results. iPhone users may have noticed Apple replaced the .com button with just a period, in anticipation of the new web endings.

It was all these reasons that caused the engineer of the political-technology gold standard, Jim Messina, to admit that he was “insanely pissed” that Democrats had missed this key opportunity.

The symbolic $20.16 price for general availability shows that we are focused on taking back control of our country. As such, revenue from .gop sales will be invested directly back into the election of Republicans.

In the coming months, .gop will become open to the public. People will be able to purchase their own .gop web endings in real-time through a process similar to other popular online services. All you have to do is type in your desired web ending, your credit card information and – voila! - You are a pioneer in the new age of the Internet.

The launch of .gop will not cure all of the challenges we face in improving our data and digital “game” but it will help. Our position as the only political party to own our own domain will provide us with a strategic advantage that when combined with other Party efforts on the technology front and Democrats’ disastrous policies - will lead to more voters pulling the handle for us.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: gop; internet; onlinemedia; republicans

1 posted on 03/23/2014 11:54:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

LMAO, yep, that’s gonna fix things.

No wonder Conservatism was languishing! /s


2 posted on 03/23/2014 12:43:25 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Immigration Reform is job NONE. It isn't even the leading issue with Hipanics. Enforce our laws.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

We’ve upped our game.... now UP YOURS!


3 posted on 03/23/2014 12:58:23 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Izzy Dunne

4 posted on 03/23/2014 1:01:55 PM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

Saw a bit of trivia on “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” the other day concerning 7-Up. Claim is that the original formulation back in the ‘20’s contained lithium as a mood elevator.


5 posted on 03/23/2014 1:08:52 PM PDT by Mycroft Holmes (<= Mash name for HTML Xampp PHP C JavaScript primer. Programming for everyone.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Mycroft Holmes

When I was a kid in the early 90’s 7-up tasted much better. They changed the formula in 1997.

http://www.beverage-digest.com/editorial/970919a.html

This article is a lie, the taste did change, for the worse. After that I thought Sprite was better, even though I never much liked Sprite.


6 posted on 03/23/2014 4:58:07 PM PDT by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Impy
That was an amusing bit of recent beverage history. I got curious about the veracity of the lithium claim. From Wikipedia:

Chow for paragraph eater.

7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg, who launched his St. Louis–based company The Howdy Corporation in 1920.[1] Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[2] It contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, until 1950.[3] It was one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

7 posted on 03/23/2014 5:08:09 PM PDT by Mycroft Holmes (<= Mash name for HTML Xampp PHP C JavaScript primer. Programming for everyone.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
run its own web ending.

It's called a domain. In the case of .gop, that's called a "top-level domain", also referred to amongs nerds as a "TLD". If you're going to use the tech, learn the nomenclature.

Sorry. That use of the word "ending" several times in the article annoyed the hell out of me.

That said, this is actually a pretty good idea. Each state can have it's own state-level domain, so you can have a domain name like "johnsmith.tx.gop". Unfortunately, I forsee this being used to prop up the ruling party status quo. Do you really think Cruz would have been able to get a domain called 'cruz.tx.gop' when he was running against the establishment party bosses?

 

 

8 posted on 03/23/2014 8:17:36 PM PDT by zeugma (Is it evil of me to teach my bird to say "here kitty, kitty"?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson