Portman deploys web tools in Senate race

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Much of the work of U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s re-election campaign in Ohio is happening under the fingertips of voters. Google says Portman has made some of the savviest use this election cycle of its digital resources as his campaign has begun to unravel an early lead by former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

Through his well-funded campaign, Portman is effectively using data mining, YouTube ads and search promotion in his race against Strickland, a Democrat, said Lee Dunn, head of the tech giant’s elections-industry operation in Washington, D.C.

Most political campaigns use Google. In fact, Strickland’s Senate campaign also has employed the company’s search lifts and data mining tools and even helped test nonskippable, six-second “bumper ads” on YouTube last spring.

But Dunn said the Republican’s prolonged and varied use of Google’s tools, though typical among corporate clients, is rare in politics.

“I would say Fortune 500 companies always seem to be a little bit further ahead than politicians, as you can imagine,” she said. “Candidates are relearning these tools every four or five years, and Fortune 500 companies are learning every day how to utilize the latest available technology.”

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona has also notably used Google tools for a Spanish-language campaign, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign made extensive use of Google to turn out voters and to issue blasts to his supporters’ mobile devices.

David Niven, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, said Portman has had the advantage of deep campaign reserves accumulated as Republicans seek to hold onto what was viewed initially as one of the country’s most vulnerable Senate seats.

“He jumped on digital even six years ago, because he knew he would have the resources for a full-throated campaign, and it’s increasingly hard to find the voters watching TV when you’d like them to be,” Niven said.