| The Democratic Party is catching up with Republicans in terms of technology to find and contact persuadable voters. In other words, we're shaking off that "not an organized political party" mantle and getting the nuts and bolts of voter contact done, and done right. Under the leadership of Governor Howard Dean, the DNC has made significant investments in its voter file, infrastructure, and microtargeting efforts and now has a national voter file with comprehensive data on voters around the country that will be an invaluable asset come November. The DNC has now reorganized its data banks into one centralized file that goes a long way toward neutralizing the GOP’s advantage in drilling down and identifying crucial constituencies of voters. ... Recently, the DNC began a “neighbor to neighbor” program that “geo-codes” volunteers — a process that assigns geographic identifiers to them — to increase the likelihood that neighbors will canvass neighbors. In short, a volunteer signs up. The 25 nearest neighbors who pique the DNC’s interest are then mapped out for the volunteer. The DNC also offers a script to use during canvassing as volunteers go door to door, asking their neighbors the degree of their Democratic support or their support for John McCain. The volunteer asks their neighbor’s top issue interests. The aim is to return and later target each person with a specific script based on their previously identified concerns.
Volunteers are ranked locally for their effectiveness and rewarded with invitations to intraparty conference calls or meetings. They are also encouraged to forward invitations by e-mail to friends or family, mimicking the viral success of social networking websites.
I've seen the new voter file interface and, let me tell you, it's going to be a lot more fun being a Democrat in 2008 than it was in 2004, or even in 2006. You can sign up as a Democratic volunteer now -- "precinct organizers" are particularly needed. This is not difficult work. Like I said, the new tools will make it even more fun than in the past. |
