How Big Data sucked the soul out of Democratic politics

Being micro-targeted and emailed to death is no fun. Perhaps politicians should try a more old-fashioned strategy.

Udall
(Image credit: (Marc Piscotty/Getty Images))

In discussing Sen. Mark Udall's depressing defeat with friends and family back in Colorado, one observation has stood out above all others: this campaign was without precedent in its awfulness.

Not in the sense of the candidates being mean to each other — it is a swing state, after all. But in the sheer unpleasantness of the election process, how everything related to the election was screechy and obnoxious and dispiriting.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.