RNC spent $1.4 million on GOP.com

[dorkulon]

http://realtime.sunlightprojects.org/2009/10/23/entering-digital-age-an-expensive-proposition-for-gop/

Seriously. Look at it: http://gop.com

So there are only two possibilities: Either the RNC has no clue how much a regular old website should cost (unlikely), or this is just another way to pay off Smartech, which is a contributor to the GOP, ran the Bush admin's non-White House e-mail service, and has been implicated by some in rigging the Ohio 2004 election results.

This story needs to get around, because A) it makes the GOP look like a bunch of out-of-touch old suckers, and B) the only possible defense they can muster is that the money is really a contracts-for-cash kickback.

[endless october]

1. lolz. that cost more than a million bucks?

wow. does that include bonuses, or are those separate?

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Did they prepay the server fees for the next 1,000 years?

[PeaceNikki]

3. Mmmm... no.

Large disparities between the RNC and DNC existed on hosting and web development costs. More from the Sunlight Foundation:

The biggest disparity seems to be bandwidth costs–the RNC paid Smartech Corp., a Republican-focused hosting firm, more than a million dollars, plus $22,000 to Eloqua, compared to the DNC’s $203,000 to Sprint, Switch and Data and Servint Corp.–despite the fact that the two sites’ traffic, which determines bandwidth usage and, largely, hosting costs, was the same.

But the design of the site itself was costly, too. In the months prior to the October 13 launch of GOP.com, the committee paid $328,000 to 11 firms for Web development. (The Democrats, which did not completely overhaul their site during that time period, spent $45,000 on Web development.)

And when the GOP’s graphics-laden product was unveiled, many of the main sections appeared missing or broken, including one advertised as listing future party leaders, which showed up blank.

“It feels as though too much focus has been placed on flashy features to the detriment of usability,” said Jamie Newell of Washington-based 7AZ Web Design. The site’s reliance on a mish-mash of technologies make it inaccessible to some, including those on mobile devices, he added, “making it impossible to navigate the site and ultimately hindering the message they are trying to deliver.”

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. I was being sarcastic.

:D

[malaise]

4. No they should investigate

who stole the money. I'd start with Ensign and see who he had to payoff, then I'd check of it's steel in name and nature. :evilgrin:

[rcrush]

5. So much annoying flash on that site

Flash blocker just blocked out half the page. Thats what 1.4 million gets you?

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. "Friendship Fairness Czar" They have no real issues, so they makeup

dumb ass unfunny shit. If they think they are being cute they are mistaken, it comes off as miserly & cranky.

[Journeyman]

7. Of course that site cost $1.4 million. . .

those 95,000+ "supporters" and the rights to the images used in the "Republican Faces" section don't come cheap, you know.


(I was particularly impressed that the "Faces" people have no last names -- identified only as "Paul S." and "Sally K." How strong is your support when you won't attach your name to it, even if it's just a geographically nebulous "Paul Stupid" or "Sally Know-Nothing"?)

[dorkulon]

8. Wouldn't be surprised at all if those people had no idea their images are on that site.

Just like the stock photos they use in their commercials.

[drm604]

10. And it all leads back to Mike Connell and New Media Communications.

New Media Communication's website is here: http://www.technomania.com (I notice that they are currently showing a Faux News video on their front page.)

New Media's domain, technomania.com, is hosted at IP address 64.203.97.11.

You can see at the bottom of this page that they use Smartech's nameservers.

Registrant:
New Media Communications, Inc.
3046 Brecksville Rd
Richfield, OH 44286
US

Domain Name: TECHNOMANIA.COM

Administrative Contact:
New Media Communications, Inc.
3046 Brecksville Rd
Richfield, OH 44286
US
330-659-7373

Technical Contact:
New Media Communications, Inc.
3046 Brecksville Rd
Richfield, OH 44286
US
330-659-7373

Record expires on 05-Nov-2010.
Record created on 06-Nov-1995.
Database last updated on 25-Oct-2009 15:33:03 EDT.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS1.CHA.SMARTECHCORP.NET
NS2.CHA.SMARTECHCORP.NET

Also, this page shows that that IP address belongs to Smartech.

IP Location: United States United States Richfield New Media Communications
IP Address: 64.203.97.11
SSL Cert: www.commonsenseissues.com SSL Certificate has expired.
Reverse IP: 47 other sites hosted on this server.
Blacklist Status: Clear
OrgName: SMARTECH CORPORATION
OrgID: SCOR
Address: PO BOX 11181
City: Chattanooga
StateProv: TN
PostalCode: 37401
Country: US

Mike Connell was the founder and CEO of New Media Communications. You may recall that he died in a small plane crash shortly before he was set to testify in a case alleging GOP election tampering in Ohio.

Make of that what you will.

[drm604]

11. Kick

:kick: