emily: alec ross, former senior adviser for innovation at the united states state department.he 2016 candidates are already sparring over twitter and youtube, but when it comes to tech and politics, campaigns it is not just about social media. campaigns, including marco rubio's, are already investing and big data to learn more about voters and competitors. i spoke with someone who has seen firsthand obama's campaign. he has seen the impact of the data on a presidential campaign firsthand as the head of analytics of president obama's campaign. >> i think rubio's approach is clever. he is going up against a incumbent who has a huge amount of technology behind him. using the strategies of his father and brother, they are planning on raising hundreds of millions of dollars through traditional means. rubio's strategy is about raising money from investing in areas where they can have a big impact in terms of efficiency. that is where i think using data to help make decisions is critical. emily: areas like what? dan: i think particularly around fundraising. that is the strength of da

emily: alec ross, former senior adviser for innovation at the state department.he 2016 candidates are already sparring over twitter and youtube, but when it comes to tech and politics, campaigns including marco rubio's are already investing and big data to learn more about competitors. i spoke with someone who has seen firsthand obama's campaign. >> i think rubio's approaches clever. he is going up against a incumbent who has a huge amount of technology behind him. he -- rubio's strategy is about raising money from investing in areas where they can have a big impact in terms of efficiency. that is how it data will help. emily: areas like what? >> if you think about where the campaign can spend their time, certainly as a candidate going through and doing traditional fundraisers in hotels will bring some money but if they can use optimization and testing to improve the effectiveness of their website and online presence, that can raise money through small donors. emily: what is more powerful big data or money? who would you rather be? >> big data is a way to become

for a closer look at the candidates and tech strategies, let's bring in alec ross, a senior fellow atersity. i just said tech-savvy senators ted cruz and rand paul. are they actually tech savvy? alec: i think they are. stephanie: their teams are. erik: that is my question, is it guys like you figuring out how to indicate with voters? alex: i think these guys are pretty sharp. they are young. they both won primaries in kentucky and texas that they were supposed to you -- supposed to lose. i expect that they are driving this themselves and they will build a solid team around them. stephanie: is the impact of social media changing motor turnout one would think those following are not necessarily people that had been rushing to the voting booth he for. -- before. alec: i think social media is playing a role, the technology broadly will play a role in 2016 that we do not understand. where social media had a breakthrough impact in 2012, in 2016, i think the data will play a much more meaningful role. take tweeting, facebook posting this that, everything else, and do much more narrow targeti