NYT/Reuters: "Microtargeting" parties have data on every U.S. voter

[DeepModem Mom]

Own a Snowmobile? Politicians Want Your Vote
By REUTERS
Published: October 29, 2006

....Thanks to state-of-the-art marketing techniques, 2006 could turn out to be the year of the snowmobile owner, the Home Depot shopper or the Forbes magazine reader.

Republicans and Democrats have compiled hundreds of data points, from voting history to church membership to TV viewing habits, to create detailed profiles of every voter in the United States.

Such "microtargeting'' could provide the crucial edge in an election when control of Congress hangs in the balance.

Party officials say microtargeting enables them to find supporters among groups they would have previously ignored.

The technique can also identify those who need extra encouragement to turn out in a year when the White House is not at stake -- crucial votes that could mean the difference between defeat and victory in dozens of races across the country....

***
Opinion surveys, gathered door-to-door or over the telephone, allow candidates to fine tune their message to groups as small as 200 voters and court them with mailings, phone calls and door-to-door visits....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-politics-targeting.html

[Miss Chybil]

1. Why do you have to be in a special "group" to be targeted for a vote?

Isn't being an American enough? Seems to me this targeting stuff is like preaching to the choir. Target us all, you bastards, with the facts. Then we can decide who to vote for. (Ok. I know. I'm dreaming.)

[sendero]

5. Because..

.. it's better to spend your (limited) money to go after voters who might be sympathetic, rather than, for example, having a Repuke wasting their time calling me.

The Dems should be doing this also. We need to stop being behind the power curve all the freaking time.

[Miss Chybil]

6. Well, George Bush called me the other day.

So, I guess they're really not as targeted as they think. I think he should have called me, though. Why not try to get my vote rather than to just spend money where they already have the votes? Sure, they need to stay in contact with the "base," and even reach out to the good prospects, but they shouldn't be too shy about reaching out from either side, to anyone. I'm an American no matter what I drive. (Which, by the way, is a pickup. A small one, but a pickup just the same. I'm ex-military. I live in a Red state. In fact, I was born in a Red state and I'm a Democrat. You can't judge a book by any of it's covers.)

[Tesha]

2. If they're so smart, why do Mr. Tesha and I have to answer 93 phone calls...

If they're so smart, why do Mr. Tesha and I have to answer 93 phone calls,
most of which urge us to vote for the same guy and all of which are met
with the assurances that, yes, we're already going to vote for that guy?

I think they still need to do some work on their "targeting" :( .

Tesha

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. Likewise

My mailbox seems to indicate wide-area saturation bombing rather than micro-targeting. Listening to other voters, I think this is resulting in overload and backlash.

[roseBudd]

4. My hubby got RNC mailings because he drives a BMW, I didn't because I

drive a Suburu

But BMW driving hubby is a Dem