At an event posted by POLITICO near the RNC, Matt Braynard, a former Donald Trump campaign data scientist explains how the campaign used some of the same data analytics as the Obama campaign, and what data shows about the average Trump supporter.



"With our analytics operation, we were able to identify Trump supporters among unlikely voters... the disenfranchised. So rather than trying to pursuade [existing voters], we enfranchised [new voters]. We educated," he explained.



"One of the reasons I am so confident in our data operation is -- you just mentioned how great the Obama analytics were in 2008, 2012," he continued. "That firm went on to start Haystack DNA, very successful. Their data drove almost every decision for us, in terms of whose door got knocked on, who got mail, who got volunteer phone calls, paid phone calls, email, all that."



They worked with a firm that had come out of the Obama campaign "without their knowledge," he said. "We negotiated access to their data."



"They are light years ahead of every other voter file vendor."



"Here's the thing about modelling, here's the thing about the Trump voter: What most of the media has focused on is the exit polls, or maybe the morning consult poll, where they say they earn less, a little more blue collar, a little more male."



"That's not nearly enough to do successful targeting outside the likely voter universe. Using Haystack DNA targeting, I could look at somebody and say they have an 80% likelihood of being a Trump supporter."



His assessment of the normal Trump voter. "Guns & Ammo is a pretty good indicator. But these are people who are rich in the wisdom of the Old Testament. They have a very unnuanced view of the world, a very realistic view of the world and the threats the country faces domestically and foreign. And that really crosses party lines."