Obama PR Team Recasts Victory as 'Revenge of the Nerds'

If you’re anything like us, you remember the 2012 election as a long, unpleasant string of joke candidates, gaffes, Twitter fights, terrible debate performances and attack ads. The Obama campaign’s PR team, however, would like the public to see the president’s re-election as a very modern tale of data nerds winning the day.

As Jason Zengerle’s essay in New York Magazine demonstrates, research and tech tools played an outsized role in ensuring that the president’s campaign apparatus raised more money and recruited more volunteers in ‘12 than in ’08—despite the fact that most supporters weren’t quite as enthusiastic as they had been four years ago.

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Spring Special

Save 30% Off an ADWEEK Subscription Today!

View Your Options

Already a member? Sign in