McConnell: New media makes conservative message more competitive

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) touted the rise of social media this week, saying he thinks tools like Twitter and Facebook have given conservatives an edge on getting out their message.

“I kind of like this new environment. I think its much more competitive, much more balanced,” he told BuzzFeed in a profile published Monday. “From a conservative point of view we have a better chance of competing in the marketplace of ideas."

McConnell also criticized the "media domination" of more traditional media outlets, naming several, and said he appreciated that "those days are over," thanks to new media tools.

“There isn’t media domination like there was in the days NBC, ABC, CBS the New York Times, the Washington Post, particularly since most people on my side of the aisle feel they had a pretty obvious bias ... those days are over," he said.

An April 2012 study by comScore credited President Obama’s 2008 campaign for setting “a new standard” for online engagement, especially when it comes to fundraising, but added that it was the Republican candidates in 2010 “who took the lead with Twitter and showed how that tool could be used effectively.” The GOP took the majority in the House in that election, a victory credited largely to the grassroots activism of the Tea Party. In the BuzzFeed interview, McConnell was also optimistic about Republican chances in the elections coming up later this year.

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