You can’t open a newspaper or turn on the TV these days without hearing about hacking in American elections. Many liberals blame cyberattacks for Donald Trump’s presidency, while some conservatives dismiss them as an invention of the liberal media.
Neither group is right.
Long before 2016, foreign governments were targeting Republican and Democratic campaigns, trying to influence the way our government operates. This is a serious problem, and it threatens our nation’s sovereignty. It’s something we didn’t even think about when I started working on presidential politics in 2000.
As Mitt Romney’s campaign manager in 2012, I experienced cyberattacks firsthand when China tried to infiltrate our servers, forcing us to spend precious campaign dollars on increased cybersecurity. Every cent spent on protection could have been used addressing voters’ concerns, and that meant even unsuccessful cyberattacks weakened the campaign.
The threat has become much greater since then, and it’s why I signed up as a co-leader of a new project called Defending Digital Democracy. Sponsored by the Belfer Center at Harvard University, the initiative will bring together experts in the political, national-security and tech worlds to develop strategies and technology to protect campaigns from cyberattacks.
Joining me on this project is Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager. We wanted to send a message that cyberattacks are a bipartisan problem that deserve bipartisan solutions. Foreign governments don’t, in the long run, distinguish between our political parties. They see any US political target as legitimate when it suits them. They can — and they will — attack Republicans and Democrats with equal vigor.
To be clear, I believe Democrats lost in 2016 because they lacked a compelling message. I agree with Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, who recently said that Democrats lost in 2016 because of a “namby pamby” economic platform. Donald Trump presented a clearer case about why he should be president, and he won.
Pundits are still wringing their hands over 2016, but our attention should turn to the future. Defending Digital Democracy is a forward-looking and serious effort to combat a clear and present danger. Robby and I disagree on almost everything politically, but we both believe foreign adversaries have no place in our domestic politics.
American campaign organizations simply don’t have the expertise or technology to defend themselves from even basic cyberattacks.
Although the most serious attacks on campaigns have originated from other countries, this threat could change. For example, the next attack could come from a radical environmental group who seeks to hack and then “dox” — steal and publish private material on the Web — a conservative candidate they oppose on ideological grounds.
Our four-pronged strategy focuses on building campaigns’ capacity to defend themselves from threats both foreign and domestic.
First, the project will ensure that campaigns have all the latest threat information. Knowledge is power. Second, we’ll produce a cybersecurity “playbook” to use as a roadmap for campaigns’ cyber defenses. Third, the project will shoulder the costs for technology that campaigns will need to use in order to operate securely. Finally, the project team will bring together leaders in the tech world to develop long-term policy solutions so we can stay a step ahead of the hackers.
To my friends on the left, you’re in denial if you think Democrats would be running the show were it not for hacked e-mails. But I’ll leave it to the “Morning Joe” crowd and political chirpers to complain about the 2016 election.
To my fellow conservatives, you’ve got your head in the sand if you don’t realize that one of our rising stars could be the next victim. Cyberattacks are a problem that threaten the integrity of our republic and its future elections, and that should concern all Americans.
Matt Rhoades was Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign manager and founded the GOP Super PAC America Rising and Definers Public Affairs.