Rove, Big Data and How Politics Really Works

So no this won't be on any end of the year test your students are taking, but if you have time after your AP or state exams, perhaps there is a kernel of an idea here for you to take to your students for an interesting project.

The last time we say Karl Rove, he was self destructing on Fox News insisting that Romney still had a chance in Ohio.  Well he is long past that and in fact one of his close associates has inked a $20 million dollar deal with the Republican National Committee to use their data to, at least his opponents state, help with candidate selection, fundraising and voter mobilization.  Of course, these are all the things he did right in 2000.  But the real crux of the article argues there is a battle brewing between the moderates led by Rove and the marginalized Tea Party.   There are a number of links that you could use to expand on the story.  In fact you might also want to look at the impact of big data and politics in general.