A former rival of RNC chair Michael Steele and one of the men behind the GOP’s new media revolution said it will be a month before the party’s new website is ready for prime time.
Saul Anuzis, the former chair of the Michigan GOP, challenged Steele for the RNC chairmanship last year. A central plank of his campaign platform was a new focus on social media and Internet outreach. After he lost the chairmanship, Anuzis became a transition adviser to Steele on transition issues.
“Overall, I think the roll out has been a success,” Anuzis said of the relaunch of GOP.com, which has led to days of criticism of Steele from the left. “As with any massive project like this, there were some technical glitches, which is to be expected.”
Anuzis said Republican activists across the country have been instrumental in tweaking the numerous mistakes critics have found on the site since it launched. “There have been lots of suggestions, improvements and “catches” of issues/problems that will allow us to build a better end product,” he said.
Anuzis did not have a role in the creation of the site, according to Republicans. Though his committee had an advisory role in the early stages, the site was wholly created by Steele and his new media director Todd Herman. Anuzis said that despite the high-profile roll-out this week, critics should give the site a month before they pass final judgement on it.
“We’ll be able to judge the true success or failure of the site in 30 days or so as we see how many folks become part of the community and actually take advantage of the tools and applications,” he said.
