Has anyone seen Rand Paul?
Rand Paul’s star has faded within the crowded Republican field, but his team is hoping that a novel digital effort will draw enough attention to Paul (and his policies) to turn things back in the right direction.
Today, Rand Paul is livestreaming…everything.
The stream will be available on Paul’s Facebook page and Ustream channel, offering what the campaign has touted as unprecedented access into life on the campaign trail.
Via Rare:
The Paul campaign’s Chief Digital Strategist Vincent Harris told Rare, “In an effort to continue his efforts to run the most digital savvy and transparent campaign on either side of the aisle, Senator Paul will be the first Presidential candidate to live-stream an entire day on the campaign trail.”The live stream, which will be viewable through the campaign’s Facebook and UStream.tv pages, will begin with Paul’s morning in Iowa and will last throughout the entire day.The coverage will wrap up Tuesday night with Paul reacting live to the Democratic debate—the first time Hillary Clinton will have to face Bernie Sanders and the rest of her competitors.Now that could be fun.
Paul announced the decision yesterday on Twitter:
I admire the Paul campaign for doing this. It’s a risky (so, so, so risky—my palms are sweaty) move, but it’s also something new and different and buzzworthy. I’ve written before that I believe great value lies with innovation in electoral politics, and this innovates on a personal level that most candidates wouldn’t even consider reaching for.
Still—will it make a difference where it counts?
It’s a groundbreaking experiment for a presidential hopeful, and it does suggest that Paul is slightly more in tune with tech than some other candidates. However, it’s debatable as to whether or not this will move the needle in a race where the frontrunners are succeeding based more on what they’re saying than how they say it. And as some have already pointed out, there’s an irony to a staunchly pro-privacy candidate putting his life on display for the whole internet to see — especially when this isn’t really the kind of increased government accountability that his supporters might expect.
This is an unfortunate but excellent point. The Real Clear Politics average has Paul at just 2.6% in the polls. Carly Fiorina overcame a similar spread within the field (she’s now hanging on to a respectable 8.9%,) and her rise also included a peek into her personal space. However, Fiorina’s success came after a series of breakthrough debate performances; Paul has yet to truly surpass himself under that particularly bright spotlight.
Rand Paul’s exposure will surpass Fiorina’s, and the payoff will be great—if Rand (not “the Candidate” or “Dr. Paul”) can pull it off.
h/t The Verge
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