Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time, I had a feeling something was up when Reince Priebus visited FaceBook headquarters awhile back:
I have no idea what kind of information he's hoping to get from these "tech experts." Tips and techniques for maximizing outreach? Recommendations on hardware?
Turns out there was indeed a FaceBook engineer in the RNC's
future:
The Republican National Committee has hired a senior Facebook engineer to serve as its first-ever chief technology officer, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus announced Tuesday night.
The move to bring on Andy Barkett, 32, an engineering manager at Facebook who has invested early on in several Silicon Valley projects, signals Republicans’ intention to become more competitive with Democrats in the digital area.
Reince Priebus must know by now that his party's problems run much deeper than any tech guru can fix. I honestly don't know how Priebus intends to erase the copious amounts of bullshit being put forth lately by prominent conservatives, but he still manages to cling to the idea that technology
alone will somehow improve their otherwise dwindling electoral prospects.
At least Mr. Barkett knows how to turn on a computer, so that's a step forward for the GOP, I suppose.
Prominent techno-Republican Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, agrees:
“Andy Barkett is a not just a strong advocate of fiscal conservatism and the ability of private enterprise to lift everyone in our nation, but he is the real deal as a technologist too,” McNealy said in a statement. “His deep background with several Silicon Valley stalwarts meshes nicely with his exceptional data base and app pedigrees. As an advisor to this effort who has had a chance to work closely with him, I am pleased and excited for him and for our country,” McNealy said. “The ability of conservative candidates to get their messages out to the voter using digital technology just got a huge boost.”
Hopefully Mr. Barkett will create a Republican-only version of FaceBook where all the wingnuts currently inhabiting the social networking site can be safely quarantined away from the rest of society.
Who knows? If Mr.Barkett works out, maybe they'll add a Twitter expert to help ensure hashtags like #GoodbyeGOP never happen again.
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