-
If we were not in the age of “Big Data” who would have won the 2012 US elections? No idea. We’ll never know. Undoubtedly, the Obama team benefitted from some of the smartest propeller-heads on the planet who worked tirelessly to crunch numbers in ways we would have thought impossible even during the previous elections of 2008.
Below I’ve collected some of the best analysis I can find of the Obama campaign team’s use of “Big Data” analytics, and I’d be indebted if readers could link me to other insightful commentary you might have found about the place.
Certainly the key point of all this is clear, and amounts to the flipside of that old management adage, that you can’t manage what you can’t measure: with the latest analytics, insights and data mining tools, you can manage pretty much anything in a whole new way.
Enjoy the following articles and blog posts that reveal how the Obama campaign team “managed” at a whole new level of focus and “micro-targeting”… -
Story of the Week: US elections and big data
Tech Blog Welcome. If you have yet to register on FT.com you will be asked to do so before you begin to read FT blogs. However, our posts…0
likes·
-
Inside the Secret World of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win
In late spring, the backroom number crunchers who powered Barack Obama’s campaign to victory noticed that George Clooney had an almost gr…0
likes·
0
comments -
Obama’s Re-Election Path May Be Written in Will St. Clair’s Code
Will St. Clair, wearing semi-rimless glasses, a plaid buttoned-down shirt, jeans and Adidas sneakers, can usually be found sitting on an …0
likes·
0
comments -
The Obama Campaign’s Technology Is a Force Multiplier
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press Technology doesn’t win political campaigns, but it certainly is a weapon – a force multiplier, in militar…0
likes·
0
comments -
When quants tell stories
The dominant narrative, the day after the presidential election, is the triumph of the quants. As Simon Jackman notes, essentially every …0
likes·
0
comments -
The US election was a wake up call for data illiterate journalists | Online Journalism Blog
So Nate Silver won in 50 states; big data was the winner; and Nate Silver and data won the election. And somewhere along the lines some g…0
likes·
0
comments -
How Cutting-edge Text Analytics Can Help the Obama Campaign Determine What Voters Want
“Share your story,” Barack Obama’s Pennsylvania website encouraged voters just before the holidays, above a text field roomy enough for e…0
likes·
0
comments -
Tracking Voters’ Clicks Online to Try to Sway Them
Then, as he visited other Web sites, he started seeing advertisements asking him to donate to Mitt Romney ‘s campaign. One mentioned fami…0
likes·
0
comments -
Wrath of the Math: Obama Wins Nerdiest Election Ever | Danger Room | Wired.com
Congratulations, Barack Obama: You have prevailed in the nerdiest election in the history of the American Republic. If 2008 was about hop…0
likes·
0
comments -
Election 2012 is big-data nerds’ gut punch to traditional punditry
The world’s best number crunchers did more than predict the outcome of the presidential election. They may have helped a candidate get el…0
likes·
0
comments -
Obama’s data geeks add up to four more years
Some years ago I went to a lecture given by Professor David MacKay, who in addition to being a distinguished physicist (he’s professor of…0
likes·
0
comments -
The 2012 Election’s Big Winner: Math
New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza said this morning that after months of campaigning, the result of the 2012 election “was a huge victory ye…0
likes·
0
comments -
Opinion: How Big Data Can Change the Game – Big Data Propels Obama to Re-election | SiliconANGLE
As the election buzz about how Obama won the election in the most horific economic conditions any incubant has ever seen, many want to kn…0
likes·
0
comments -
Nate Silver and data win the election – Lane Filler
Nate Silver, and data, won this presidential election. And really, hard as it might be for charlatans, fortune tellers and political hack…0
likes·
0
comments -
Internet Evolution – Analytics Clan Editor’s Blog – Analytics Gets the Last Laugh in the ‘Moneyball’ Election
Any business managers still skeptical about the power of analytics should keep their mouths shut following this week’s election. The Pres…0
likes·
0
comments -
Boffins wanted
IN A presidential election the incumbent enjoys many advantages. One of the less obvious may be the leisure to recruit a strong team of b…0
likes·
0
comments -
As always, I’m keen for your thoughts. What struck you the most from the reading? How can you take the learnings from the Obama campaign into your own business?
Alister Cameron // Blogologist
Changing the world. One blog(ger) at a time.
Obama and “Big Data”
3 Comments
Note: Commenter website links are not no-followed, in case
you were wondering... I believe in rewarding commenters!
-
Seems that you are a big fan of “Obama team”!!
Anyways he is in now!! -
Actually, I’m not. But I’d be a mug not to be impressed with what his tech team did!
-
Excellent article. And with several interesting articles and reviews
comments