July 2015 Report - Data Trust and i360 to Cooperate for 2016

Political Parties « Republican National Committee « Data

There has been competition on voter data between the RNC-aligned Data Trust and i360, which is backed by the Koch brothers aligned Freedom Partners, but they appear to have reached an agreement to cooperate for 2016. See: Matea Gold. "Koch network strikes new deal to share voter data with RNC-aligned firm." The Washington Post, July 29, 2015.

And here is another interpretation:

American Bridge 21st Century
July 29, 2015

With Nowhere To Go On Voter Data, RNC Folds, Returning To The Kochs' Warm Embrace

It's no secret that the Kochs have for years been trying to execute a Republican Party takeover, so it was big news when the Kochs first announced data sharing -- read: making the party infrastructure even more dependent on the Koch network -- between the RNC and their network of front groups.

Embarrassingly, it took the RNC until about a month ago to notice that the Kochs' were effectively executing a party takeover: "The RNC is now openly arguing, however, that the Kochs’ political operation is trying to control the Republican Party’s master voter file, and to gain influence over — some even say control of — the GOP," reported Yahoo News at the time, continuing, "The RNC is now confronting the Kochs more openly than before [...] Their decision to take their dispute with i360 public shows the level of alarm inside the RNC at the growing clout of the Koch political empire. They have concluded that the Koch political machine wants to replace them and to essentially become a shadow party."

But here's the thing: the RNC had nowhere to turn -- the Kochs lured the Republican Party in, and made it dependent on their resources.

So it's no surprise that the RNC, defeated, today comes crawling back to them. As the Washington Post reported:

A data management company financed by a political network backed by Charles and David Koch has struck a new deal to share voter data in the 2016 cycle with a private firm aligned with the Republican National Committee, signaling a tentative truce between the rival data operations.

There's no way the RNC's Koch-infiltration concerns have subsided, but they have nowhere else to turn.

And so, the Kochs eagerly continue their takeover of the Republican Party -- consolidating their control of the GOP and expanding their sphere of influence within the RNC.