Political microtargeting

Political microtargeting, also called "narrowcasting", is "aggregating groups of voters based on data about them available in databases and on the Internet—to target them with tailor-made messages." Personal information—"everything from your magazine subscriptions to real estate records—can and will be used by political parties in the approaching elections to deliver specifically targeted messages calculated to influence your vote." [1]

For example, for the gubernatorial race in Virginia, "[a]rmed with sophisticated new polling techniques refined by both national parties in the 2004 presidential election, Republican Jerry W. Kilgore and Democrat Timothy M. Kaine [compiled] detailed profiles based on how old voters are, what houses they live in, what newspapers they read, what restaurants they eat at and how much money they make," Michael D. Shear reported in the August 28, 2005, Washington Post. "The goal: direct mail letters and voter drives designed not for the masses, but instead for tiny, well-defined slices of the state's voting population."

"Marketers, law enforcement agencies, security officials, background screeners and now politicians are tapping into the same commercially available databases with the goal of rating people with laserlike accuracy," Shear wrote.

"But for all its seeming complexity, the singular goal of microtargeting is to modify voter behavior to a candidate's benefit," Chad Vander Veen wrote in Government Technology, January 2, 2006.

History

In 2002, Alexander P. Gage, founder and President of TargetPoint Consulting, Inc. based in Alexandria, Virginia, "began combining voter registration lists with data from commercial firms that acquire information on Americans' consumer habits. Using the consumer data points as indicators of voters' political leanings, Gage, then working for market research firm Market Strategies Inc., was able to mine the data for likely Republican voters in predominantly Democratic neighborhoods, and to craft phone and mail appeals designed just for certain classes of voters. The tactic is now known to political pros as 'microtargeting'." [2]

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• America Votes
• Economic Freedom Fund
• EMILY's List
• National Media Research, Planning and Placement, LLC
• public polling industry
• Sara M. Taylor
• U.S. congressional elections in 2006
• U.S. presidential election, 2004

Websites

• Pollster.com Blog.

External articles

• Microtargeting, Wikipedia.
• Center for Media Education (CME) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Letter: "Public Workshop on Consumer Information Privacy/Request to Participate" to Federal Trade Commission, April 15, 1997.
• Jon Gertner, "The Very, Very Personal Is the Political," New York Times, February 15, 2004.
• John Heilemann, "Rewiring the War Room Blogs have changed the way that politicians raise money—but Democratic activist Steve Rosenthal says databases will radically transform the way they spend it," CNN Money, April 1, 2004.
• Thomas B. Edsall and James V. Grimaldi, "On Nov. 2, GOP Got More Bang For Its Billion, Analysis Shows," Washington Post, December 30, 2004.
• Michael D. Shear, "Va. Gubernatorial Hopefuls Use Data to Zero In on Voters," Washington Post, August 28, 2005.
• Chad Vander Veen, "Zeroing In," Government Technology, January 2, 2006.
• Mark Blumenthal, "Legitimate Microtargeting," Mystery Pollster Blog, March 8, 2006.
• Wayne Hanson, "The Vote: Political Microtargeting," Government Technology, April 18, 2006.
• "Consultants' Corner: A Small Idea Launches A Large-Scale Trend," The Hotline Blog/National Journal, May 18, 2006.
• "Consultants Corner: It's Not Just For TV Any More," The Hotline Blog/National Journal, May 19, 2006.
• "Consultants' Corner: The New Frontier," The Hotline Blog/National Journal, May 22, 2006.
• "Clinton Turns To An Old Friend For Microtargeting Advice," The Hotline Blog/National Journal, July 28, 2006.
• Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza, "In R.I., a Model for Voter Turnout. Employing Senate Primary Strategy May Give GOP an Edge," Washington Post, September 14, 2006.
• Marc Ambinder, "Know Thy Voter," The Hotline Blog/National Journal, September 15, 2006.
• "The Democrats' Microtargeting Effort," The Hotline Blog/National Journal, September 15, 2006.
• Donald Lambro, "GOP 'micro' managing to crush Dems' midterm machine," Townhall.com, September 15, 2006.
• Stirling Newberry, "Election Endgame. Enough Already," Coffeehouse/TPM Cafe, September 15, 2006.
• Dan Gilgoff, "Everyone is a Special Interest," U.S. News & World Report, September 17, 2006.
• Donald Lambro, "GOP's 'microtargeting' strategy," Washington Times, September 18, 2006.
• Laura Berman, "Outraged robots really ring bells for DeVos campaign," Detroit News, September 23, 2006.
• Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten, "GOP Mines Data for Every Tiny Bloc," Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2006.
• Gordon Trowbridge, "Politicians know a lot about you. Looking for backers, candidates can tell if you're a big-spending hunter or a soccer mom," Detroit News, September 25, 2006.
• Chris Cillizza and Jim VandeHei, "In Ohio, a Battle of Databases," Washington Post, September 26, 2006.
• Buzz Webster, "Microtargeting in the Midterm," Politics Online, September 27, 2006.
• ImpeachBushCheney, "NSA Domestic Spying & GOP Election Microtargeting," Daily Kos, September 29, 2006.
• Mike Dorning, "The Virtual Campaign. Web's role widens in campaigns. From digital video to social networking, tactics get high-tech," The Swamp Newsblog/Chicago Tribune, October 9, 2006.