Excerpt:
“The Republican National Committee (RNC) learned the lessons of those defeats, argues lobbyist Henry Barbour, a partner at Capitol Resources, with chair Reince Priebus and his successor Ronna McDaniel recruiting dedicated tech staff. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rested on its laurels.
Barbour said: ‘We’re in a strong position as a party, whereas in the Obama years we were playing catch-up. Now I think the Democrats are. The DNC is a shell of its former self, a shambles. There is weak leadership left over from President Obama, who invested in his own organisation more than the DNC.’
‘President Trump is doing the opposite, investing in the RNC and the nuts and bolts. As a result, Republicans have built an advantage on the data side.’
Barbour, chairman of the Republican firm Data Trust and the RNC national committee member for Mississippi, added: ‘The Democratic data is controlled on the state level, whereas the Republicans have a national approach to it. I think it’s a big advantage in 2020 when you’re trying to figure out who to target, how to target them and when to do it. Better data yields better results.’”