GOP expert: Anti-gay views hurting party’s tech recruitment
RNC's former digital strategist says her party's anti-gay views are hurting its recruitment of vital tech talent
Topics: CPAC, RNC, GOP Civil War, Reince Priebus, technology, Gay Marriage, Editor's Picks, Technology News, Business News, Politics News
Mitt Romney tours the Google Chicago headquarters during a campaign stop in Chicago, March 20, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/Jim Young)In its massive autopsy report released Monday, the Republican National Committee says the party needs to get a lot better at technology if it ever hopes to win a presidential election again. “A commitment to greater technology and digital resources in all areas referenced above is critical,” the task force report notes. And according to a poll conducted by the group, GOP political operatives say data analytics and better digital outreach are among the top priorities for the party heading into the 2014 and 2016 elections.
But Republicans have one very big problem when it comes to recruiting the talent needed to modernize the party’s digital infrastructure: its hostility towards gay people.
That’s according to Liz Mair, who was the RNC’s online communications director in 2008 before leaving to start her own political consulting firm. Since then, she’s worked with Carly Fiorina on her 2010 California Senate bid, with Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign, and with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s successful reelection effort after a recall attempt last year.
She’s also one of her party’s most outspoken activists on marriage equality, sitting on the leadership committee of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry and on the GOProud advisory board. I caught up with Mair at CPAC on Thursday, where she was wearing a Freedom to Marry t-shirt (she said she got “a couple of confused looks”). She told me anti-gay Republicans will have hard time recruiting from the pool of mostly liberal and libertarian tech gurus if they maintain their hard line on gay rights. Below is a transcript of our conversation, lightly edited for clarity and conciseness.
When it comes to reaching out to demographics where Republicans lost in 2012, does the GOP need to shift on the underlying policy or is it just about better messaging and outreach?
I think it’s a mix of both. There are some folks who talk about the imperative to engage in a wholesale policy shift. While I think that’s a bit bogus, on the other hand, when you’re looking specifically at Hispanics and gay people, I think there’s a real rationale for engaging in a bit of a policy shift.
Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.




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