The Unmitigated Disaster Known As Project ORCA (rightwing account of Romney implosion)

[geek tragedy]

What is Project Orca? Well, this is what they told us:

Project ORCA is a massive undertaking – the Republican Party’s newest, unprecedented and most technologically advanced plan to win the 2012 presidential election.

Pretty much everything in that sentence is false. The "massive undertaking" is true, however. It would take a lot of planning, training and coordination to be done successfully (oh, we'll get to that in a second). This wasn't really the GOP's effort, it was Team Romney's. And perhaps "unprecedented" would fit if we're discussing failure.

How bad was it?

So, the end result was that 30,000+ of the most active and fired-up volunteers were wandering around confused and frustrated when they could have been doing anything else to help. Like driving people to the polls, phone-banking, walking door-to-door, etc. We lost by fairly small margins in Florida, Virginia, Ohio and Colorado. If this had worked could it have closed the gap? I sure hope not for my sanity's sake.

The bitter irony of this entire endeavor was that a supposedly small government candidate gutted the local structure of GOTV efforts in favor of a centralized, faceless organization in a far off place (in this case, their Boston headquarters). Wrap your head around that.

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/334783.php

[bluestateguy]

1. Isn't an orca like an exotic vegtable or something?

Like one of these vegetables you have to get at some organic food store?

[Paulie]

9. No, it's the real name of "killer whale"

Like Shamu.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Chosen because it's the predator of the Narwhal, Obama's GOTV project

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/victory_lab/2012/02/project_narwhal_how_a_top_secret_obama_campaign_program_could_change_the_2012_race_.html

Cool name, guys, but it appears to have been implemented by Mike "Heckuvva Job, Brownie" Brown, so wide was its incompetence.

[Paulie]

21. Ha! Didn't know that. Thanks!

Looks like the Orca got speared by the Narwal.

[Purrfessor]

20. ORCA: An acronym for Oh Rats Crushed Again...eom

[hedda_foil]

2. F'ing hilarious!

They couldn't even get pollworker checksheets to work, but no matter because they forgot that observers need physical credentials to be in the polling place. That's what I love about Republican contractors. Theyre equal opportunity cheaters and thieves. Sorta like all the unqualified crooks the Bush gang hired to Run Iraq.

[drm604]

3. Here's the author's Twitter feed.

https://twitter.com/JohnEkdahl

There are other people on it complaining about the total disorganization.

[Lucinda]

6. Thanks for the twitter link.

[drm604]

4. This guy wanted to run the country?

[Lucinda]

5. Thanks for this!

[grasswire]

7. freepers were complaining about ORCA today.

Apparently, it was FUBAR. Many of them had signed up, gotten trained, and then were never contacted, given tasks, etc. A total train wreck.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. What's interesting about the blogger is that he puts it all on Mitt

And then it becomes clear that Romney is not at all the competent manager that he was sold as. So, perhaps the next thought to occur to these people is that we perhaps dodged a fairly big incompetence bullet?

Nah!

[bayareamike]

8. WAIT WAIT WAIT

You're telling me that a campaign mostly supported and ran by old conservatives was terrible at using technology? I am SHOCKED. We could've looked to Freeperville for proof of that!

[bluestateguy]

10. Ahem

[ellie]

11. That was beautiful!

Thanks for posting it!

[demhottie]

12. I was almost in tears from laughing so hard when I read this

[Tennessee Gal]

13. A total screw-up. Yet these people were shocked that they did not win.

[Cha]

14. "small government candidate".. brawawawaa

Big Brother candidate.. and President Obama? He's the Smart Government President!

[whistler162]

15. Thought it was project OCRA! 'Cause it just kinda

wilted.

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. "You know, they call them killer whales..."

"...But you seem surprised
When they pinned you down
To the bottom of the tank
Where you can't turn around..."

[Sunlei]

19. just like a failure CEO, high paid do nothing management, low/no pay disposable workers.

even Semus got a dog crate

[Hydra]

22. Lol

We're saved by incompetence...I find that both comforting and extremely disquieting.

Should it have come down to Mitt not being as awesome as he thought?