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Bill Cosby survived accusations of sexual assault for decades until viral social media outrage took him down in a matter of days.

Digital operatives recognize that Cosbys fall is sure to be an unusual case, given the severity of what more than a dozen women have said he did, including several who had not spoken out before.

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But strategists also see Cosbys fall as a case study in how social media can spread old news to new audiences with speed and efficiency dramatically different from what any previous generations of political candidates have encountered.

So while opposition researchers retool their digital approach ahead of the 2016 presidential race, when social media will be even more important, theyre planning how to use these digital platforms in new ways to reignite the controversies in their opponents past as part of their campaign strategy.

(Also on POLITICO: Was Chuck Hagel the wrong man for the job?)

The Cosby situation isnt unique to Hollywood celebrities, said Vincent Harris, an Austin-based GOP digital consultant who worked for Mitch McConnells 2014 campaign and recently signed on as top tech strategist for Rand Pauls political operation. The same situation could take place in politics, with decades old information, videos, and events coming to light and with enough online drive behind them, they could ignite a firestorm. People online are relentless and politicians must work hard to harness the searches and information seeking of voters, channeling them into a medium where they control the message.

Part of the reason the past does well on social media is the audience. Users tend to be younger and may not have lived through the first cycle of the story years ago.

Old news is actually new news, GOP strategist Kevin Madden said.

The stuff that happened 15 years ago is a window into how they arrived at this moment, Madden said of how the next generation of voters might find things newsworthy and help propel them to go viral. Its a window into their resume and a window into the kind of person they are.

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